Can I Trust You?
by nerdyvampgrl97
Summary: She's only known pain, only known what's it's like to be lied to. She hides it behind a carefree mask afraid to be broken and alone again. After a short stay with Elizabeth she's sent off to the Phantomhive estate, can she learn to trust again? CielxOC
1. Chapter 1

_Disclaimer: I do not own Kuroshitsuji (Black Butler) why would I be posting it on **fanfiction** if I did?_

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Can I Trust You?

Third person POV

A girl, age 13 stood next to her bright so called friend who was happily pointing out the people with the cute dresses at the party. She nodded politely each time she pointed one out, not really caring.

"Ah! That girl's dress is cute too!" she said excitedly, her blonde pigtails bouncing.

The brunette looked up and saw said girl's back. She blinked. The dress was rather beautiful, a pale pink with black and white detailing. The girl had unusual straight long blue looking hair tied into two high ponytails. She was speaking to a tall man clad in all black. She rose a brow maybe he was a butler or tutor of some sorts? The blue-haired girl said something to the tall man and irritated look on her face. The brunette's hand reached up, resting on the left side her chest, as a faint blush spread across her cheeks. Her heart fell back into a steady rhythm as she looked nervously toward the ground. The brunette shook her head, her heart had raced as she caught a glimpse of the blue haired teen. One thought filtered through her mind: What the hell?

"I'm going to ask her where she got it!" Elizabeth announced happily. "Wait for me Danielle." she murmured, the hint of an order in her tone. Said girl nodded back as her 'friend' ran off. Just as she did, the tall man led the bluette away. Danielle blinked as both man and girl dove behind the cake, where Elizabeth had been headed. Elizabeth reached the cake table and looked around, confused before walking off to look in another direction.

Danielle kept her chocolate eyes on the pair as they dashed off in another direction. She watched as they walked up to a laughing woman with pale skin, clothed in all red. Then the pair caught sight of her blonde 'friend' and dashed away. The tall man telling a server something. Right before Elizabeth caught up to them that server offered her a drink. Danielle laughed softly. This was becoming amusing.

Moments passed and right as the suspicious pair were about to return inside violins sounded signaling a dance. Danielle scowled, she smoothed out her deep blue dress, adjusting the black choker around her neck. She toyed with the black bow tied around her hips as she walked to the opposite side of the dance floor. A small smile playing at her lips as she watched the dark man dance smoothly with the significantly smaller girl. She waited patiently for them to reach where she was.

She nervously wiped her black gloved hands on her dress before reaching up and tugging on the white frills of the ruched bust of her dress. She ran her hands down the tied bodice as the long awaited pair reached where she was. The girl, out of breath from the dance. Danielle hurried over to them right as the tall man helped her up.

"H-Hello." she said softly. Both people looked up at her, surprised. For the first time she got a good look at the girls face and she smiled softly. "Thank God…I thought I was actually attracted to another girl." she sighed, relieved. Both servant and earl stared up at her shocked. She blinked. "What? You're…you are a boy, right?" she asked hesitantly. He nodded reluctantly, his entrancing cerulean blue eyes filled with confusion. She smiled. "Good." she curtsied politely. "I am Danielle Williams." she said. The boy looked around the room nervously before clumsily curtsying.

"Ciel Phantomhive." he muttered lowly. She nodded. Where had she heard that name before?

"Well it's a pleasure to meet you Ciel Phantomive." she said. Her eyes widened and she smacked a fist onto her open palm. "Oh! I know who you are…you're engaged to Lizzy." she said happily. Ciel blinked.

"H-How do you know Elizabeth?" he asked. She paused.

"I'm…her…I'm her friend." she said smiling. A smirk tugged on the taller man's lips, having easily seen through her lie. The girl toyed with the black bow holding up a portion of the back part of her perfectly curled brown hair. She smiled nervously.

"Well I should be going then." she said softly turning around. A tall man walked past her just at that moment, heading up to Ciel. She turned and watched as the Count complimented Ciel's dance and the servant excused himself. Danielle turned and went looking for Elizabeth, shaking off the Count's suspicious vibe.

Over an hour passed before Danielle finally reached Elizabeth, finding her on the balcony talking. She walked over to her and stood faithfully at her side, like a good girl. Elizabeth's green eyes flashed her way for but a moment before she resumed talking. Danielle stood there quietly, looking down at her black shoes or the stone of the floor. She looked up for a moment and saw the tall man and Ciel on the roof. She blinked and they were gone. Elizabeth turned and blinked confused.

"I thought I just saw someone." she said softly. Danielle shrugged slightly. She _knew_ she did. She was a curious person by nature and she sure as heck wasn't going to let this slide. She needed to find out what she saw. Ciel Phantomhive...and his butler...there was something odd about them and she wanted to find out what that was. She bit her lip, a very unlady-like habit of hers. She was not in any place to be going to the Phantomhive residence. Not at all. She glanced over at Elizabeth, but she _was_.

"Um Elizabeth-sama?" she asked softly. Said blond turned to the brunette.

"Hmm?" she murmured.

"Perhaps we should go see your fiancé this weekend?" she asked. Elizabeth rose a brow.

"Why?" she asked curiously, tilting her head.

"It's been quite a while since the last time you've seen him, hasn't it?" she asked. The blonde nodded.

"True true." she said. A grin broke out of her face. "Then we will go this weekend." she stated. She gave Danielle a look.

"Maybe he'll take _you_ in." she said the undertone of her voice hinting at her eagerness to get rid of the poor street rat. Danielle's eyes cast downward.

"Maybe…" she said softly, she would never show it but something like that sounded promising? Danielle couldn't help but frown though, she had thought the same when Elizabeth's family brought her in. Now...look at them. All happy to get rid of her. She was only a burden and it'd be the same for Ciel too. Completely unaware of the brunette's anxiety Elizabeth smiled happily, bright green eyes shining brilliantly with genuine joy.

"Well let's go, I have business to attend to at home in preparation for our trip." she said. Danielle nodded slowly.

"Yes…Elizabeth-_sama_." she said softly.

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Okay, well yeah. Okay so I had this idea floating around in my head for a while. So I figured what the hell? I wrote it quickly, in an attempt to procrastinate studying and finishing my homework as much as possible. I really need to get to that. Ugh. :(

Forgive me for it's total crappiness. It'll get better! I hope! *crosses fingers*

I'll try to update this often, maybe every week or so...

Yeah, I tried to be exact with how the episode went but it's not going to be like that from here on. One, because I'm only on episode** nine **and two, I'm just too lazy to try. Heh.

Hope you enjoy it. Yeah...I know not many people like OC's so I'll try to make mine interesting, I have plans don't worry. ;)

Review please! I'll give you a big ol' virtual hug! ^^

You know you want one! XD


	2. Chapter 2

**Disclaimer: I don't own Kuroshitsuji...yes sad indeed.**

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Third Person POV

Another few days came and went…well there was one dramatic event. The death of Anne, Elizabeth's aunt. After hearing the news, Elizabeth had cried sadly, horribly upset over the loss. She told Danielle the visit to Ciel's would be postponed another few days. Danielle excepted this fact, merely thinking it was because of how upset she was. Not even aware that Elizabeth had made the change do to how she believed Ciel felt.

So here they were at the funeral, Danielle standing next to Elizabeth, silently. Not a single emotion on her face as she stared down at the pale woman in the coffin. The woman with deep red hair…the one she had seen at the party. She had seen her laughing and happy, now barely 3 was dedays later...she was dead.

Elizabeth held her gloved hands near her face, trembling. Danielle kept on a stoic expression glancing every now and then, from the still woman to the grieving girl. Suddenly the large doors of the Church swung open, Danielle looked over her shoulder and her mouth parted, her eyes widening. There was Ciel Phantomhive, this time dressed as a boy, walking into the Church, lugging a deep red gown in his arms. Murmurs were heard around the room, most of confusion. Danielle blinked, stepping back as Ciel made his way to the casket.

"C-Ciel…" Elizabeth murmured as she stepped back as well.

Ciel jumped up onto the side of the white casket and stared down fondly at his aunt. Danielle watched, incredibly confused.

"Neither white nor plain clothes suit you…" he said quietly, looking down upon the woman. "What suits you is the red of passion." he added, taking a beautiful red rose from his chest pocket and placing it in her hair. "-the color of liquorice burning the landscape…" he whispered. Leaning down toward the woman's face he quietly murmured, "Aunt Anne…"

Danielle's eyes widened at the situation…they were…Elizabeth and Ciel were cousins? Elizabeth stared at Ciel, her gloved hands folded near her chin. Danielle's head swiveled to the doorway just as a tunnel of deep red rose petals blew in. She heard Elizabeth gasp but couldn't turn around. The scene before her was breathtaking.

Her eyes fell to the doorway. There stood the tall man from the party. He stared with dark red eyes at the scene as well, watching his master. Danielle blinked, there was something off about him.

"Rest well…" a voice whispered. Danielle tore her eyes from the dark butler and back to Ciel, who had pulled away from the casket. "Madam Red…" he said softly. Madem Red...the name suited the women well.

He made eye contact with no one as he walked out of the Church and to the carriage where the butler was waiting. As Ciel climbed in the butler looked back into the Church, his dark red eyes staring right into Danielle's own. Her chocolate brown eyes widened as her heart seemed to lurch to her throat at the connection. A smirk graced the man's pale lips as he walked around to the other side of the carriage. Danielle placed a hand on her chest, feeling her heart rate return to it's normal pace.

Elizabeth eyed the brunette with confused emerald eyes. Danielle continued to stare at the doorway, even after they disappeared down the road. Elizabeth nudged her with her elbow as they walked down, to go take their seat in a pew. Danielle turned to the blonde with surprised eyes, having been just yanked from her thoughts. Elizabeth rose a brow at the girls questionable behavior. Danielle shook her head.

"It's nothing…" she whispered under her breath. Elizabeth turned her head back to the preist, giving a slight nod as she did so. "Sorry for worrying you." she added quietly in an attempt at being polite.

The ceremony dragged on yet no one seemed quite entirely focused on what was going on in the Church everyone's minds off wondering about why Ciel had done what he had. Danielle was one of those people, whose minds had wandered. Her curiosity had gotten the best of her. Her mind had gone off and she was caught in a whirlwind of thoughts. All of which had a common denominator…Ciel Phantomhive.

She felt this weird extreme curiosity to the Phantomhive. She couldn't understand why she felt that way, she just _did. _Simple as that. She was thinking of her first sighting of the young earl. She nearly smiled at it, he had certainly looked like a girl at first sight. Her thoughts shifted to the butler, he had been wearing glasses at their first meeting…he had worn that same smirk then too. She found his eyes unusual, she couldn't read his emotions well. Her lip quirked, he was as good at masking his emotions as she was with her own. Ciel's eyes were a brilliant blue color. Danielle blinked, the image of Ciel at the party, his hair had hidden his right eye to the point where no one could see it and today he wore a black eye patch over it. Had he lost it? How?

This discovery brought nothing more than more questions. She wanted to pull at her hair or sigh loudly at the least, her aggravation getting the best of her. But do to the environment she abstained from doing so.

As everyone filed out of the Church the image of the butler filtered through her mind. She bit the inside of her lip, thinking of how his pallid lips had curved into that devious smirk. Even as she followed Elizabeth to the carriage she couldn't seem to rid herself of that on uneasy feeling she got in the pit of her stomach when she thought of the mysterious man.

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Okay I think I know what you're all thinking. 'That's it?'

Well yes it is. For now. I'll try to update again today but I'm sooooo lazy and really hungry so yeah.

Apologizes for the not greatness of this chappie, *sigh* next chapter will actually be getting into the story. These first two chapters have been more of hmm introductions I guess?

Gah! Forgive me! It'll get better I hope! Bear with me here!

Eh...sorry if like it's not exact with how episode 5 went, I wrote it from memory. Yes, my memory is that awesome I remembered the quotes. Naww...I wrote them down. Heh...

Review! I'll give you a cookie! *waves chocolate chip cookie in the air*

C'mon review, just clickie the button. Go on.


	3. Chapter 3

**Disclaimer: Don't Own Kuroshitsuji :(**

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Third Person POV

The rest of the week rolled on by and it was Saturday. Elizabeth had announced at breakfast that they'd be going to Ciel's that afternoon. So Danielle packed her bags and placed them in the carriage before climbing in herself and taking a seat next to Elizabeth.

"I certainly hope he takes you in otherwise all that packing was pointless." she murmured.

Danielle looked out the window so the blonde wouldn't notice her eye roll. It wasn't like she had even lifted a finger! She thought annoyed. The ride there was short, but it felt longer do to the awkward silence that engulfed the car. The only noise being Elizabeth's comments on the outfits of random bystanders.

Danielle looked down at her own outfit, it was just a simple deep purple dress with flowing elbow length sleeves that ended in white frills. The square neck of the dress was also trimmed with the white frills. Under the bust was a black band. The dress fell down past her white thigh high covered knees. The brunette looked down at her black lace up boots as she adjusted her hair that had been tied into a messy side bun.

The carriage suddenly stopped and the girl looked up, bringing her hands down from her hair and onto her lap. Her mouth fell open slightly at the pure size of the mansion. It was bigger than anything she'd ever seen. She closed her mouth…I suppose it was to be expected of the Phantomhives.

"Danielle!" a high voice yelled. Said girl blinked looking out of the carriage to see the blonde motioning for her to hurry. "Come on!" she yelled. Danielle hurriedly hopped out of the carriage and followed after the excited blonde who was running up to the doors of the mansion. Danielle lifted up her dress slightly as she ran after her.

Right as both girls reached the door it swung open revealing the butler. His dark red eyes connecting with Danielle's and once more sending her heart leaping into her throat. Elizabeth just smiled at the man and ran inside. She spun around as Sebastian closed the door after Danielle had walked in.

"Ooh! I have the perfect bow for you Sebastian!" she sang happily.

The brunette looked up at the butler. Sebastian, huh? She thought curiously. Elizabeth ran up to the butler, motioning him to bend down to her level. He did so and she pinned two large white and pink bows into his black hair. Sebastian stood upright, making no signs of any emotion. Elizabeth grinned.

"CUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUTE!" she sang loudly. There were footsteps and all three heads turned to the source.

"Sebastian what is the mean-" Ciel stopped speaking, taking in the sight before him. His visible eye widened as he saw Danielle. Elizabeth grinned from ear to ear and ran up to Ciel, tackling him into a hug. The young earl stumbled back with the force of the attack.

"CIEL!" The girl squealed happily. Ciel awkwardly patted the blonde girl's back.

"Elizabeth?" he said, half asking. The girl pulled away from the Phantomhive pouting childishly.

"It's _Lizzie!_" she said annoyed. Ciel nodded slowly.

"L-Lizzie." he said. Elizabeth smiled and hugged him again.

"Ah! I missed you so much!" she exclaimed. The blue haired teen gently pried her of his body.

"Alright." he said. Clearing his throat, he turned to Sebastian and Danielle. His cheeks grew a faint pink as he made eye contact with the servant girl. Knowing that she had seen him dressed as a girl humiliated him horribly. "So whose this?" Ciel asked, not wishing for Elizabeth to know of their previous encounter. The girl blinked and looked down.

"Umm I actually was hoping we could talk about that for a moment…" she said softly. Ciel rose a brow, desperately trying to keep a composed face. Had she told? He motioned for both Sebastian and Danielle to follow him up to his office.

Ciel sat down, Sebastian standing by his side. Elizabeth stood in front of Ciel's desk, Danielle a few feet behind her.

"So what is it you want to discuss?" Ciel asked slowly. Elizabeth took a breath and Danielle felt her stomach clench with unease.

"Her." Elizabeth stated simply. Ciel rose a brow.

"M-me." Danielle blurted, cringing as the word left her mouth. She was told before hand to not speak. Ciel glanced over at the girl who was now looking down avoiding eye contact with everyone.

"What of her?" he asked smoothly, politely.

"We have no use of her in our home, would you take her in?" Elizabeth asked kindly. Ciel looked taken aback. Danielle's eyes went away, fists clenching the fabric of her dress.

__

"You useless piece of trash! Get out of my sight!"

"W-Wait!"

"If you can't pay your part then get out!" warm tears rolled down pale cheeks.

"B-But-"

"Out!" a swift turn, hair whipping across her face, tears falling, shivering as the frigid air splashing against her flushed cheeks…tripping over shoes too big for her. Hitting the cold pavement, she couldn't move. She lay there awkwardly curling up into a ball tears dripping from her cheeks and onto the stone. Squeezing her eyes shut she wished to disappear…for the pain to go away…wishing for it all to just go away.

She snapped out of her memories, her heart beating loudly. So loud she worried the others could hear its unsteady rhythm. She looked down to her shoes again, the images had been so real. Like she were there again, like she was running again.

"What do you mean take her in?" Ciel snapped. "Just who is this?" he asked. Elizabeth turned toward the girl, who was still quite shaken from the memories she just revisited.

"Danielle Williams. I found her on the corner of a street and needed to make her cute, so I did. I had thought she would make a good maid but her manners are atrocious." she said, shaking her head. Ciel nodded. "Will you do me this favor?" she asked, her eyes twinkling with hope. Ciel paused glancing over at the girl who finally met his gaze since walking into the room. He sighed, looking down at his desk.

"Fine." he muttered. Elizabeth squealed, excitedly jumping.

"Thank-you Ciel! Thank-you!" she yelled. Ciel nodded.

"Yes yes." he muttered. Elizabeth smiled.

"Where is Finny?" she asked. Ciel didn't even look up from his desk.

"In the garden." Sebastian answered. Elizabeth nodded.

"I have the perfect outfit for him!" she sang, running out of the room. Danielle's eyes followed the girl as she disappeared out the door. Ciel kept his stare on his new maid.

Liars. Nothing irritated him more. Nothing. If it hadn't been Elizabeth's request he would have denied immediately. Now he was stuck with an incompetent servant girl. Great. Fan-freaking-tastic.

"Sebastian. Go get her a uniform." he said, waving his hand toward the door. Sebastian smirked, showing perfect white teeth.

"Yes, my lord." he said leading the small girl out the door, halfway through the doorway Danielle twisted from the butler's grasp and bowed awkwardly.

"Thank-you!" she said. Ciel didn't reply, in fact it looked like he hadn't even heard her.

The girl straightened up and tried to mask her disappointment as she followed Sebastian downstairs. He began taking measurements silently. The silence bothered her. She felt unwanted and most of all…invisible. Sebastian finished with the measurements and turned to the closet fishing for a uniform as he searched he muttered, "You're a good liar."

Danielle blinked, surprised by his words before casting her eyes to the dark wood. An almost morbid smile reached her lips.

"I suppose it runs in my blood." she said quietly, taking the uniform from Sebastian's hands and walking into the dressing room behind him. Sebastian heard the door close and smirked devilishly.

"Ah…" he sighed, turning around and waiting for the girl to come out of the dressing room.

….

Danielle stared at her reflection in the mirror her cheeks flaming with color. Her dark brown hair was tied into a now messy side bun, a white frill in her hair. Her sleeves exposed her shoulders and flowed to her elbows like black water. The bust of the dress was white and ruched. The dress poofed out slightly, going down until around 3 inches above her white thigh high covered knees. A white frilled apron was wrapped around her hips loosely. Her feet still clad in black lace up boots. She tugged at the sides of the dress, in hopes that by doing so it would somehow become longer. She gave up after a minute of pointless effort and stepped out of the room. Sebastian looked her up and down before nodding.

"Fits perfectly." he said, proudly. She bit her lip.

"It's rather short." she said nervously. He rose a brow.

"Is it?" he asked. She blinked before nodding quickly.

"Yes, I believe I just said that." she stated.

"I don't think it's that short at all." he said. She nodded.

"Well does it look al-" A red-haired girl ran in just then.

"I CAN'T TAKE OFF MY GLASSES! I'M BLIND WITHOUT THEM!" she yelled. Danielle blinked. She looked like a fellow maid only her dress was long and navy blue. She scowled they didn't even match like normal maids. The girl looked up, adjusting her large glasses.

"Who are you?" she asked slowly. Danielle smiled awkwardly.

"Danielle, new servant." she said quietly.

"She'll be assisting you, Meirin." Sebastian added. The girl nodded and stuck out her hand.

"Meirin." she repeated. Danielle gave out her own hand.

"Nice to meet you." she said. Meirin smiled, turning to Sebastian, she blushed. Sebastian pretended not to notice as he looked down at me.

"You two will work fine together I presume?" he asked nonchalantly. Danielle looked up at him with narrowed eyes, for a moment she reminded the butler of Ciel.

"Why don't our uniforms match?" she asked. The butler blinked seeming taken aback for a split second before smiling deviously.

"You're frame is too small to fit in any of them." he stated. The girl blushed lightly, flustered.

"E-Excuse me?" she asked. He chuckled lowly.

"You're too small." he repeated. The girl stomped her foot childishly,

"I am not!" she argued. Meirin blinked confused with the situation yet watching with curiosity nonetheless. Sebastian nodded.

"You are. See the bust is too loose." he said motioning to the top of her dress, pointing at her nearly nonexistent chest. The girl's face turned red as she aimed to slap his gloved hand away but the demon caught her wrist smoothly. "No need to be violent." he said smiling. The girl yanked her hand away and smoothed out her dress annoyed. Her annoyed face again reminded him of his young master.

"Umm…Sebastian-san?" Meirin asked, shyly pushing her large glasses up the bridge of her nose. Sebastian turned to the woman.

"Yes?" he asked. She looked down.

"Umm Bard blew up dinner a-again." she blurted. Sebastian smiled.

"Well I'll go fix that then." he said walking out of the room with swift long strides. Meirin turned to the small girl.

"D-Do you know where your sleeping quarters are?" she asked.

Danielle shook her head then, placing a finger to her lips, she said, "My bags are actually still in the carriage." she said. Meirin smiled.

"Then let's go get Finny to help us with your b-" the doors to the room burst open revealing a blonde teen in a pink kitty costume. Complete with a furry kitty ear head band, a white choker with gold bell pink and white sleeveless shirt and pink shorts that reached his knees ending in white fur. His shoes were white boots and pink knee highs.

"H-Help me." he pleaded. "I narrowly escaped with my digni-" his teal eyes landed on the small thirteen year old who stood in back of Meirin. "Eh…?" he blinked giving a small yet warm smile. "Who are you?" he asked kindly. Danielle looked at him curiously before returning his smile.

"I'm Danielle, the new maid." she said. He nodded.

"Finny, I'm the gardener." he said reaching out his hand. The girl took it shaking it.

"Nice to meet you." she said. He pulled away and rubbed the back of his neck.

"Ah, this costume is hot." he whined. Meirin gasped.

"Ooh! Finny! Can you help Danielle get her things from the carriage?" she asked. Finny nodded.

"Sure thing!"

….

"A-are you sure it's not to heavy?" she asked as Finny eyed the luggage and shook his head.

"Positive." he said easily picking up the two bags and the throwing the truck on top with ease. Danielle gaped, shocked. Finny merely grinned at her. "I'm strong." he stated. The girl nodded slowly.

"No really?" she asked. She gave an airy laugh as the teen walked into the mansion following the lead of Meirin to her new room. Finny gave her a confused look silently asking her why she was laughing. She smiled. "You're wearing a pinky kitty costume-" she leaned up and patted his orange-blonde hair. "-and carrying more weight than a full grown man." she finished. "It's just the irony of it all." she said. He smiled brightly at her.

"This is your room." Meirin said. Danielle walked in and looked around, it was pretty plain…clean and plain. The room was average size for a servant, maybe even a bit larger than most servants but again this was Ciel Phantomhive you were talking about.

"I'll leave you to get settled in, come on Finny." Meirin said, dragging the kitty out of the room.

"See you later Danielle!" Finny called as the door closed. Danielle laughed softly, falling back on her bed, scowling.

Ciel Phantomhive…there wasn't much special about him, other than him being a Phantomhive. What was so special about that anyway? It was just a title…all he really is, is rich. The leader of a major toy company and filthy rich. Phantomhive was just a name, Ciel was a normal pre-teen at heart wasn't he? So why did she have to call him master? The girl curled into a ball. She knew why…because even if Phantomhive was just a title, another name for a rich family it was more than she ever could have. She may call herself Danielle Williams but did she even have that right anymore? After running away from it all…could she still call herself that? She buried her face in her knees.

__

"If you can't do your part get out!"

She pressed her face closer to her knees, hurting her eyes. She could almost hear her father's voice booming those words once more. She could almost hear that one man's sick laughter as he pushed her down onto the motel bed. She could still feel the sting on her cheek from where the pervert had slapped her for disobeying him and she could still hear her father's insults as she ran away.

*Knock knock*

"Dinnertime, Danielle." Sebastian's smooth voice came from the other side of the door. Danielle's eyes widened as she immediately straightened up and smoothed out her dress.

"Come in." she said. Sebastian turned the knob and motioned for her to come along and follow him. She followed the butler down to the dining room where Ciel and Elizabeth were sitting. Finny, another man, a short old man and Meirin were standing off the side. Danielle followed shyly behind Sebastian. Elizabeth dropped her spoon and gaped at her.

"CUTE!" she sang loudly. Danielle bowed slightly.

"Thank-you." she said.

When she straightened herself out and noticed Ciel's visible eye was resting on her. She had the urge to ask him just what he was looking at but refrained from doing so and walked over to wear the other servants were. Right as she pasted Ciel's chair she heard him mutter quietly, "You clean up well."

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Wooo! An update! YAAAAAAAAY!

Hahaha uh, yeah more details on Danielle's past later on...it's very vague as of now. I apologize for that.

Hope you liked it, I like the chappie I think maybe not sure. Ehhh anyway Read and Review and all that awesomeness :P


	4. Chapter 4

**I've got some sad news...I don't own Kuroshitsuji. I know it's a pity, really.**

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Third Person POV

Meirin quietly stepped into the sleeping girl's room she walked over to the small windows and opened the blinds as silently as possible, letting the bright sunlight stream into the room. She smiled slightly at the nice day outside before she turned around waiting for her to wake up. Moments passed beforeDanielle stretched her arms above her head tiredly. Yawning lazily as she did so. She rubbed the sleep from her eyes and tossed her legs over the side of her bed. Still barely half awake.

"Ohayo!" Meirin sang cheerfully. Danielle turned toward the window lifting her hand in greeting.

"Ohay-" the girl collapsed, falling backward on the bed. Meirin gasped and hurriedly ran over to her only to see she'd fallen back asleep. Meirin nudged the girl's shoulder only to get a yawn and mumble in response.

"Eh…Danielle-san?" Meirin whispered, nervously poking at the girl's shoulder.

"5 more minutes…" the girl mumbled, barely coherent.

"You already slept in for 15..." the purple haired maid pointed out thoughtfully. (A/N: Yeah I realized her hair was purple not red. Heh.) Danielle propped herself up on her elbows.

"Fine then." she muttered. She yawned again, ruffling her dark hair as she stood up and walked over to the bathroom her new uniform in hand.

Minutes later the girl stepped out of the bathroom, tying her hair into a messy side bun. It would've been neater if she were more than half awake. Meirin grinned and walked over helping the uncoordinated girl tie her apron.

"Thanks…" Danielle said softly. Meirin smiled wider.

"It was nothing, c'mon let's go help Sebastian-san with breakfast." Meirin sang happily. Danielle blinked.

"I thought Bard was the chef…" she said, following Meirin out of the room. The purplette paused.

"Eh…he is…but um…Sebastian's more efficient." she finished, laughing nervously. The small girl nodded slowly, remembering how Meirin had said he blew up last night's dinner.

Both maids walked to the kitchen. Danielle watched Sebastian cook, moving comfortably and smoothly throughout the kitchen. Meirin grinned.

"I'll get the plates!" she announced, walking over to the cabinet and pulling out a dozen pure white dishes in her arms.

She wobbled, clumsily trying to make her way to the counter but she slipped back. Danielle took a step forward to help her but-faster than her eyes could catch-Sebastian caught her, hovering over her he also caught the plates. Danielle's eyes widened at the sight before her. Partly because of the compromising position Sebastian-though it phased him not-and Meirin were in-she was dark red the second Sebastian went for her-but mostly because no human should've been able to do that.

"S-S-Sebastian-san!" Meirin said flustered as the butler helped her up.

"Ah…I should go wake up Bocchan." Sebastian said, wiping his hands on a white cloth, obviously ignoring the reaction Meirin was having from the awkward incident. "Danielle, Meirin. Set the table would you?" he asked before unrolling his sleeves and slipping on his jacket. Meirin saluted him, her cheeks still stained pink.

"Understood!" she said. Sebastian smiled slightly.

"I'll leave it to you two then." he said, briskly walking out of the room. Meirin walked over picking up trays of preparedfood and walking to the dining room, Danielle grabbed a plate of scones and walked hurriedly after her, not wanting to be a burden.

Surprisingly they set up the table, without screwing anything up. Sebastian came down with Ciel and pulled out the chair for him. Ciel sat down and ate silently. Without a good morning or even a glance at Danielle or Meirin. Danielle watched as Sebastian carefully prepared tea for Ciel, announcing the name of it to him, not that the earl was even listening. The two maids stood patiently in the corner of the room waiting for Ciel to finish eating so they could clean. Danielle glanced at Meirin only to find the woman staring at Sebastian. She shook her head and resumed staring out into space.

"Don't you both have things to do?" a young yet authoritative voice spoke.

Danielle's chocolate eyes cast down toward the short Phantomhive. He turned slowly, feeling someone's watchful gaze, and rose a brow at the new addition. She met his eyes-or eye rather-with curiosity. That surprised him but, nonetheless; his mouth twisted into a scowl.

"Don't look directly into your master's eyes." he stated.

The girl nodded, bowed slightly, and spoke in a clear voice, "Pardon my rudeness." she said. She stood upright to see the earl turned back in his seat resuming eating like nothing had even happened. Sebastian turned to the two maids and smiled.

"Clean the library would you?" he half-asked in a velvety voice. Both maids nodded loyally.

"Understood." they both replied, walking out. Danielle followed Meirin to the library, still not used to living in the spacious estate.

The entered the room, Danielle tried-and failed-not to gape at it's size. It was large and spacious as were the other rooms. Danielle adored reading to the point where putting a book down hurt, she could sit with her face buried in a book for hours on end. So her natural response was to gape at the pure number of books. Meirin gasped.

"Eh! I forgot to get the dusters and cleaning rags. Excuse me!" she said, clumsily walking out. Danielle gave a small breathy laugh and stood there a moment. Her dark eyes rested on the bookshelves and she made her way over to the cherry wood case.

She ran her pale fingertips over the binding of each book, still surprised by the amount. There was easily over 60 perphaps over 80. She smiled slightly at the thought of learning, her slight smile faltered though…she was only a maid. An education was out of the question.

The door to the library opened but it didn't register to Danielle who was caught in a whirlwind of thoughts and stupid fantasies. The sound of clipped footsteps fell upon deaf ears. The petite maid hadn't realized anyone was standing behind her till the mysterious and smooth voice sounded in her ears.

"What do you think your doing?" she heard it ask. She didn't need to turn around to realize it was her new master.

"Meirin left to go fetch some cleaning things." she stated politely as she pulled her hand from the binding of a book that read _Pride and Prejudice. _

"So what right do you have to be looking through my things?" Ciel asked impatiently. It didn't really bother him as much as he acted like it did, but he couldn't find a reason to like this girl. He hadn't even hired her. She was practically forced upon him. He had no particular reason to dislike the poor girl but he had no particular reason to like her either.

"I don't have one." the girl answered back. Ciel paused unable to come up with something to say. Danielle's eyes fell on a book titled _Alice's Adventures in Wonderland._ "Phantomhive-sama…" the girl began. "Is there a reason why you dislike me so?" she questioned the young earl, who was taken aback by her bluntness.

"I…" the adolescent began.

He stumbled over his thoughts, as stated, he had no particular reason to dislike her, to treat her the way he did but he didn't have a reason to treat her kindly either. He frowned for a moment. Why had he begun to carry this dislike for the girl? He remembered then…the lie. She had stated she was a friend of Elizabeth but that had been a mere fib. That had been the instigator.

"I don't like liars." he stated plainly, no emotion in his smooth voice. A morbid smile quirked Danielle's lips.

"Ah…" she sighed giving a small breathy laugh undertone with sadness. "Don't we all?" she asked, looking over her shoulder at the Phatomhive.

He blinked, the look in her eyes was so…it was so much more different from how they had looked before. Her usually warm chocolaty eyes were, distant filled with a hidden sadness and morbid amusement. He turned on his heel and cleared his throat awkwardly.

"I suppose." he spoke, walking out the door without another word. Tears blurred dark eyes as they went away.

She was no longer standing in front of a book shelf in the Phantomhive estate, she was back at the apartment complex. Back in her dirty room, hiding in the closet and hoping her father wouldn't find her...not again.

_She was squeezing her eyes shut and praying. Praying that her dad wouldn't give her to any of those dirty men again. Praying he would spare her. Praying the door wouldn't open. _

_But of course it didn't work. She didn't pray hard enough, she thought. The door opened and her father walked to the closet and yanked her out. She protested, she tried to fight back but she was too weak. She lacked the muscle to fight back. She went limp letting him carry her whole being. She watched with wide eyes as her elder sister followed a man into a room, her sleeves already slipping down._

_Her sister…she didn't care as much as Danielle did. Danielle was 13 while she was already 16. She was already impure and Danielle was on her way there. Her father handed her over to a tall man with graying hair and hungry, wild eyes. They exchanged the scared child for a small bag of coins and she was his for the rest of the night. Danielle's eyes filled with tears as the man shoved her into a room and leaned down to her face, the smell of rum and vodka filling her nose._

_"You're going to give yourself to me." he stated. Her eyes widened to the point where she thought they might pop out. Oh please God, anything but this…_

Her eyes refocused and suddenly her legs felt wobbly and she felt nauseous. Her stomach lurched and Danielle couldn't keep it in. She ran out of the room, passing a shocked Ciel and into the bathroom. Leaning over the toilet she pulled her hair back and threw up whatever she had had for dinner. She coughed and flushed the toilet, leaning over the sink and washing out her mouth. She felt gross all over, a prickly sensation. She wiped a cool hand across her forehead and wiped away the sweat and pulled back her damp bangs. Her memories…-her hands clenched on the marble-…she hated thinking of the past.

She hated to be reminded of what kind of a person her father was, hated to think of what kind of person she was. She hated to think of anything she had to do. She thought she was doing it for the good of her family but it was all a lie. She was doing it for her father's alcohol money.

Her and her sister never ate enough while her father ate fine and drank enough for four men. She couldn't help but think he was the reason her mother took her own life. Her mother was once a happy woman with a bright eyes and contagious smile, now she was buried in an unmarked grave 7 feet under the wet earth. Her father was once a caring man who put his children and wife before his well-being, now he was a drunkard who was still selling his oldest daughter off to random men for vodka.

And those mere thoughts were enough to make Danielle lean over the toilet bowl once more.

* * *

~Wonderful Author's Note of Awesome~

Okay! So here's chappie 4! Yay! I finally updated!

Sorry for the wait. I've been sooo lazy and school's been such a pain. Ugh.

Anywaaaay, so I hope you enjoyed the chapter. It provided a little more insight on Danielle's past. No Danielle didn't actually give herself to that dude, she's not a mary-sue and she's not weak. But there will be more on this later on. Yeah. Okay originally I intended on this chapter being twice as long but I ended with a cool line and was like, "Whatever." Heh...well if all goes well, I'll update tomorrow or Sunday. Hopefully *crosses fingers*

So now that you've read the chapter, update and tell me what you thought...

I got cooooookies. ^^


	5. Chapter 5

**Disclaimer: I am not Yana Toboso so I don't own Kuroshitsuji**

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A knock at the door made the brunette look up from her crumpled place on the floor.

"Danielle?" said girl looked up at Sebastian who met her eyes and rose a brow, "Are you alright?" he asked. It sounded more like a recited line then an actual genuine question. Danielle pulled herself from the floor and stood on her wobbly legs.

"I'm fine," she began, "I merely fell." she finished, brushing out her uniform. Sebastian rose a perfect brow, amusement lighting up his dull red eyes.

"Really now?" he asked. Danielle frowned, pale lips twisting with irritation. Sebastian merely smirked at her. She walked past the tall man, brushing her arm against his as she walked out of the bathroom.

Sebastian's eyes widened for a split second as he turned around only to see the girl struggling to walk in a straight line off to the library was Meirin was searching for her. A smirk quirked his lips. She was an interesting character indeed.

"Well Bocchan will be relieved to hear she had _merely fallen_…." he said absentmindedly.

Back in the library Danielle staggered over to the cart with the cleaning things and grabbed a clean white rag. She began busying herself with cleaning a cherry wood desk when Meirin finally noticed her arrival.

"A-Ah! Danielle!" she said surprised. Said girl looked up from the table at the sound of her name.

"Hmm?" she murmured, clutching the desk feeling like her knees weren't strong enough to hold her.

"A-Are you alright?" she questioned noticing the lack of color in the young girls face. Danielle nodded fiercely, putting on a face of happiness.

Truth was she felt horrible, she couldn't shake those memories away. She had locked them in the deepest crevices of her stained mind yet her eyes kept going away more and more often. And she was back, back in those cheap motel, back with that horrible man, back then. No matter how hard she tried…she couldn't keep it away. She couldn't stop those memories from flooding back in. She couldn't stop herself from remembering. She couldn't erase her past no matter how much she wanted to.

Despite her pain she put on that lighthearted smile and reassured Meirin she was fine. Meirin believed her and prodded the subject no further. But had she looked closer she would have noticed that fake little smile didn't even touch her chocolate eyes.

Sebastian walked into Ciel's study with a tray of tea and a freshly made deep dish apple pie. He set Ciel's cup down on his desk and, without making eye contact, spoke, "She was fine, she had _merely fallen_." he said. Ciel's eyebrow twitched slightly.

"Oh?" he answered.

Ciel was no idiot. He knew that couldn't be the case, he had seen her face as she ran into the bathroom and dove for the toilet. He'd seen her petite body slump against the cool wooden cabinet breathing heavily. He'd seen her get up and rinse her mouth in the sink. He knew she hadn't fallen.

"That is what she told me, my lord." Sebastian replied, slicing a piece of pie for the young earl. Ciel lowered his paper and brought the tea to his lips. Sebastian placed the pie on the desk before him.

"Ah, but what really happened Sebastian?" he asked, knowing that the man knew. Sebastian frowned slightly.

"She's very interesting, my lord." he replied. Ciel's pale lips twisted into a slight smile.

"Ah…how intriguing." he said absentmindedly.

His sick little mind began to twist the idea. This was just a new game, a new puzzle for him to solve. He would solve the mystery of his new little slave, Danielle. She'd become his new plaything. After all, what other use does she have. Elizabeth had deemed her an incompetent maid, the least she could do was entertain him.

Sebastian watched in silence as his master's mind began turning. He couldn't help but smirk, it was as amusing for him as it was entertaining for Ciel. He left the study with his cart, halfway out the door he paused, "You and her have much more in common then you think, bocchan." he said, "Ah, please call when your finished with your snack." he added before walking out of the room.

Ciel frowned, "Tch…" he muttered clutching the paper, the small black letters on his the white paper seemed to blur to the point of incoherency. And unfortunately for the young Phantomhive his mind was stuck on repeat. The only thing on the young boy's mind were those words Sebastian and said…

"_You have much more in common than you think, bocchan."_

What did he even mean? In common? Is she a noble? Is she parentless? Well quite obviously…was that what he meant? They both lost their parents? No, no. Sebastian wouldn't point out such an obvious fact like that in such an ominous way.

Ciel let out a small groan of frustration. Damn that idiot demon and his mind tricks and damn his own curiosity on the matter.

Moments passed before Ciel's lips quirked, he got an idea. If he wished to know her background why not ask? After all, she was his maid. His servant. She had to follow his commands without complaint. And all of the Phantomhive servants need a background check.

"Sebastian!" Ciel called. Within a minute said butler was at the door.

"Yes, bocchan?" he asked.

"Get Danielle, I just remembered we never checked her history." he said flatly. The demon smirked and bowed.

"As you wish, my lord." he said before standing up and walking swiftly out of the room and toward the library where Danielle was still struggling to keep focused.

Danielle brushed the duster against the shelf once more, she was half sure there was no more dust but screwing up on her first day was the last thing she wanted to do. Meirin was off in another room and trusted her to clean this one up herself. She didn't want to disappoint her peer.

The door to the library opened and Danielle looked past the book shelf to see the door hadn't even opened. The brunette blinked, confused.

"Hello Danielle." Sebastian's voice rang from behind her. The startled girl nearly jumped out of her skin.

"S-S-Sebastian-san!" she exclaimed. The butler merely chuckled in amusement at her reaction. The girl; however, felt like her heart was beating a mile a minute.

"Bocchan wishes to see you in his study." the amused butler said smoothly. Danielle nodded slightly.

"A-Ah, alright…" she said softly with hinted hesitance. She carefully placed the feather duster on the silver cart before tucking a stray piece of hair behind her ear, "Excuse me, then." she said quietly as if she were speaking to herself.

"Good job on the cleaning by the way, I have hopes for you as a maid." Sebastian added. Danielle stopped abruptly to look over her shoulder and smile slightly.

"T-Thank-you." she replied.

Having the study been the first room she was in upon arriving at the manor she still remembered where it was. She rose her hand to knock but stopped. What if he was going to tell her to leave? But if he was why would Sebastian have complimented her?

"_I have hopes for you as a maid…"_

He had never said as a maid of the Phantomhive household. She couldn't be thrown out again. She couldn't take anymore rejection. Danielle felt her palms begin to sweat slightly and her heart thumped a little faster. Her hand seemed to move on its own, her fist made contact with the dark wood making a clear knock.

"Come in." Ciel's voice called from the other side, clear and uninterested. Danielle opened the door slowly and walked in, shutting it behind her.

"Pardon for the interruption…" Danielle said in a voice that held a lot more confidence than she actually felt.

"Ah, Danielle…" Ciel said a wicked smile tugging on his lips.

"Master Phantomhive." Danielle greeted with a slight bow. Ciel motioned for her to take a seat in the velvet chair in front of his desk. She complied and folded her hands in her lap patiently waiting for Ciel to speak.

"So I'd like to hear of your past, just as a precaution." he said smoothly. The girl blinked, taken aback.

"O-Oh…well I…" she paused. If he knew the truth she'd be fired on the spot. She hated to be a hypocrite, to lie like those she hated. "I'm Danielle Williams, I'm thirteen, I ran away from my father and sister. My mother died a while before I left. Elizabeth-san found me and took me in for a while, you k-know the rest." she said, clutching the fabric of her dress.

It wasn't a complete lie but neither was it the whole truth. She yearned to be able to talk to someone about what really happened but was terrified of being judged. She couldn't have it both ways so she kept her mouth shut, her eyes guarded, and her heart closed. She refused to be broken again.

"We're the same age, hmm. Now, I beg your pardon but how did your mother die?" he asked, leaning on his folded hands.

"She…" Danielle felt a stinging in her eyes and a painful lump rise in her throat. She didn't have to die, she thought as anger heated her blood and longing prick her eyes. "She took her life." she finished flatly.

Ciel's eyes widened momentarily but his face resumed it's normal composed mask all but a second later. Yet the young earl had no response. What to say…what to-

"Oh…" he said dumbly. His cheeks heated, a barely noticeable pink dusting his cheekbones. Clearing his throat he added, "What about your father?"

That was the straw that broke the camel's back. Danielle's eyes hardened, shocking Ciel. He had only seen her guarded, soft, pained gaze to see her chocolate eyes filled with such fiery anger and unbearable pain surprised him.

"What business is that of yours?" she snapped. Ciel's eyes narrowed slightly.

"You are my maid. I deserve to know." he said slowly, sternly.

"No. No you do not. Don't let your social status go to your head because in the end your still just a kid!" she said irritated. "You and I…we're the same!" she added. "We're the same age, both without parents, both alone yet here you are an earl and here I am…a slave. And that…that's all you need to know!" she said standing and walking to the door. She turned on her heel and bowed. "Good Afternoon, _master Phantomhive._" she said bitterly as she left.

Ciel was still wide eyed a moment later, never had any of his servants been so bold. But he thought about it, maybe he was a little evasive. Perhaps he had been a little blunt and maybe a tad insensitive. For Christ's sake when anyone asked him of his family he was as vague as could be. Perhaps he shouldn't have pushed it…

But even with all that he still felt an irresistible urge to figure this pretty little puzzle out, no matter what.

And Ciel Phantomhive had no intent of stopping just because of a little setback…

Grumbling, Danielle walked to the library to presume cleaning only to find the silver cart was gone. Her eyes went wide in confusion.

"I took the cart back down, this room is done." Sebastian said.

"Aiyah!" Danielle yelped, jumping up a hand clutching her heart, "Would you stop startling me!" she begged/yelled. Sebastian merely smiled in response.

"Do you mind helping Finny out in the yard?" he asked. Danielle furrowed her brows.

"How could I be of help?" she inquired innocently. Sebastian shrugged slightly.

"In anyway Finny needs." he said. Danielle repressed the urge to ask if he could be anymore vague.

"Alright." she said, walking past him, out the door, then out the large front doors to the yard. "Finny!" she yelled. Out of nowhere said blonde popped up.

"Dannie!" he said excitedly. For brief moment the brunette wondered if everyone just enjoyed scaring the crap out of her, but then she had a bigger question.

"What did you just call me?" she asked. Finny blinked.

"D-Dannie? It's your nickname…do you not like it?" he asked, furrowing his brows. Danielle shook her head quickly and gave a small smile.

"No no, it's just no one's ever given me a nickname and I was rather surprised. That's all." she clarified. Finny smiled brightly.

"Oh good!" he exclaimed.

"Sebastian told me to help you out here, is there anything I could do?" she asked. Finny paused.

"Uh, you can…oh! I know! Could you help me cut some roses for bouquets?" he asked.

"Bouquets?" she asked. Finny nodded.

"Sebastian always likes to have fresh flowers for dinner centerpieces." he explained. Danielle rose a brow.

"Is someone coming over?" she asked. Finny shrugged.

"I'm not really sure, Sebastian would've probably done it himself if someone was though." he said, giving a small light-hearted chuckle. Danielle found herself half smiling also. She liked him, in that he was so carefree. She admired that and envied it as well.

"Do you need me to help you?" Finny asked. Danielle just stared, confused.

"What?" she asked. Finny laughed.

"To help you with the bouquets?" he clarified. She just shook her head.

"I don't want to be more of a burden then a help." she explained.

"Nonsense! I have nothing else to do! We can cut roses together!" he said with the excited smile of a child. Danielle nodded.

"Alright." she agreed following Finny over to the roses.

In that time she'd spent in the garden she nearly forgot of the incident earlier. Almost.

Until Finny turned to her and innocently asked, "I heard young master had called for you…" he said. His intention was innocent enough but still Danielle's eyebrow twitched. She had blown up on her master. She couldn't believe it. Now that she thought about it, she was an idiot. That was the best way to put it.

"Dannie?" Finny asked snatching young girl from her thoughts. Her brown eyes met his own emerald ones as he gazed down at her confused, "Did something bad happen in the meeting?" he inquired. She shook her head.

"No…I just overreacted to something he said." she answered with a embarrassed (and fake) laugh. Finny frowned.

"Something?" he asked. She blinked, she could tell if she didn't answer he wouldn't press but she felt the need to tell him anyway.

"A…a question about my uh, past." she said. Finny nodded.

"Oh…" he answered, placing a red rose in the basket between them. It was then Danielle realized she really didn't know that much about any of the other servants, "You weren't saved by Sebastian-san, right?" he asked. She shook her head.

"No, were you?" she asked. He nodded, smiling fondly.

"He saved Meirin, Bard, and I, offering to let us work here." he said. Danielle's eyebrows rose. "I really do owe it to him and young master, I can finally be outside now." he said smiling. Danielle watched his eyes fill with a humbleness and overwhelming sense of happiness. She couldn't believe how bright he was.

She desperately wanted to pry further, to ask what he meant by being outside. But she resisted, not wanting to ruin the moment.

"Well, I think we got enough flowers." Finny said, wiping his forehead with the back of his hand.

"I'll take them in." Danielle offered. Finny stood up, basket in his left hand.

"I'll go with you." he said, offering her a hand. She took it appreciatively and walked into the mansion with him. Finny rambling about hoping Sebastian wouldn't be angry about him knocking down a tree. Danielle was questioning what kind of tree he meant. She couldn't see the lanky teen knocking down anything taller than a baby tree. Sebastian walked up to the two servants.

"Ah, thank-you." Sebastian said, plucking the basket from Finny's hand.

"You're welcome." he replied cheerfully, "I'll help Bard in the kitchen!" he beamed, running off. Sebastian gave a worried look before following after him hurriedly.

"I see you're fitting in quite well." Ciel spoke from the stair case. Danielle jumped up and spun toward Ciel.

"A-Ah, Master Phantomhive!" she exclaimed. "I-I suppose so…" she answered after calming slightly.

"About earlier…" the earl began, averting his eyes. "I apologize, perhaps my questions were a little…much." he said. Danielle blinked.

"I…It's alright, really. I should be apologizing. I…overreacted." she argued. Ciel shook his head.

"No…you didn't. I know how I would've reacted if someone asked me that. Especially if it was said like I put it. And it would've been way worse. It always is." he said. Danielle smiled slightly.

"I suppose it's only natural then." she said. Ciel smirked slightly. Or so she thought. It was either a slight smirk or almost smile.

"Well if you excuse me I have paperwork to attend to." he said, turning and vanishing up the stairs.

"Good evening, Master Phantomhive."

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GAH THIS CHAPTER SUCKS!

TT~TT

I blame my lack of sleep (went to Knotts Scary Farm last night) and minor case of writer's block.

I'm am so sorry that this chapter sucks so much.

Okay so any questions on Finny and Danielle's realationship?

Well, No they aren't going to be involved romantically. Nothing more than a brother/sister realationship, something Ciel will be jealous of.

Ugh, I cannot get over the pure crap that is this chapter. TT^TT

I'm so sorry I made you read this...I'll make up for it I promise!

Review please?

Pretty please with a Sebastian on top?


	6. Chapter 6

**Disclaimer: I don't own Kuroshitsuji (Ah, that hurt to say!)**

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-Chapter 6-

The morning was normal or as normal as it could be. Ciel slept in and arrived for breakfast later than usual. But once he got there, Ciel ignored the servants-minus Sebastian-just like he did the previous morning. It irked Danielle to no end, that he just ignored them like they weren't even there. But even if she voiced her opinions it would do no good. So she kept her lips together and watched silently as her master ate.

Meirin and Danielle were cleaning up the table from Ciel's breakfast when she waltzed in. Danielle hadn't been surprised when Elizabeth's bubbly laughter and squeals echoed into the room. She expected her to check up sooner or later but as soon as Meirin connected the laughter to the blonde she bolted out of the room screaming about how she needed her glasses and was blind without them. Danielle; however, just picked up the plates and made way to the kitchen.

As she leaned over and placed the porcelain dishes into the sink she kneed something underneath it. She yelped and jumped back, staring at the sink in horror.

"Ah! Sorry!" said a familiar voice. Danielle blinked and looked around the room for the source.

"F-Finny?" she asked, regaining her composure.

"Down here!" he said. Danielle kneeled and her mouth fell a little as she saw the blonde huddled under the sin, knees to his chest.

Danielle's face lost emotion as her mouth fell open, "Wooow…" she drawled. Finny frowned.

"It's a good hiding place." he defended. Danielle rose a brow. He seemed a little old for Hide-and-seek, she thought.

"Hiding?" she asked. Finny nodded fiercely.

"I don't want to dress like a kitty maid or a kitty ever again." he said in all seriousness. Danielle nodded slowly, rocking back on her heels and up into a standing position.

"Okay then…" she said, "You have fun with that." Finny smiled slightly before placing an adorable determined look on his face.

Danielle shook her head at his antics and brushed a hand through her loose hair, adjusting the two bobby pins that held part of the left side of her dark hair up into an X. She brushed her bangs out of her eyes as she walked out of the kitchen, out of the dining room with the intent of going upstairs. But she stopped at the sight of Elizabeth spinning Ciel around happily an older woman she'd never seen before standing a few feet behind her. The woman was tall, her long light brown hair in a ponytail and she watched Elizabeth with wide lighter brown eyes. Probably Elizabeth's babysitter, Danielle thought to herself.

"Ah…" she sighed softly, watching as Elizabeth squealed and placed a velvet box in his hand then became frantic when she saw the ring on his thumb for some reason, grabbing at his hand she began fretting. Danielle blinked, was it was Ciel's birthday? How old was he anyway? She asked herself. He was rather short, now that she thought about it,…well she was in no place to be talking she was 13 and 5'1 on a good day.

"It's his birthday tomorrow." Finny chimed from behind the brunette. Danielle's head snapped back, she'd been so caught up she hadn't heard him walk up behind her. She seemed to be really bad at hearing people lately.

"I thought you were hiding?" she asked. He chuckled nervously.

"I got lonely in there by myself..." he admitted sheepishly. Danielle turned back to Elizabeth and Ciel right as the blonde snatched the velvet box from him, clutching the box to her chest laughing weirdly. Danielle rose a brow at her sudden change in attitude. Then a previous question flitted through her mind.

"How old is he?" she asked suddenly. Finny paused, not really sure himself.

"I think he's going to be 14..." he said. (A/N: he is in this story :P)

"Oh…" she answered back, watching as Elizabeth and her sitter suddenly bolted from the manor, the large doors slamming behind them.

"Why did she come over, then?" she heard Ciel ask.

"Tomorrow is your birthday bocchan." she heard Sebastian clarify, "Maybe that's the reason…" he added turning to Ciel as the earl's face lit with realization. "Shall we hold a party?" Sebastian asked. Finny grabbed Danielle's arm-right at her elbow-lightly, so as not to hurt her, and dove suddenly behind a pillar. "It looks like there are others who want to celebrate it as well." he said turning to the pillar where Finny and Danielle just dove, joining the eavesdropping others: Bard, and Meirin.

Ciel's eyes became one filled with sadness as he recalled those unpleasant memories of his past birthdays, "My birthday…" he whispered absentmindedly as his eyes went away suddenly. Danielle's own eyes widened, she knew that look. There was something painfully familiar about the vacant look in his sapphire eyes. She couldn't place her finger on it but she knew it. That look in his eyes sent chills down her spine, that look. That look, it was like he was completely absorbed in something else, not aware of the world around him. Why was this look so familiar? Why was this empty gaze so incredibly familiar? Why?

She unconsciously fumbled for Finny's hand again, snatching it and gripping it, needing to know someone was still by her. Needing something to pin her back to reality and out of her crazy little hopeful world.

Finny turned toward the brunette and eying her curiously, she was staring at Ciel with-for the first time-some kind of emotion in her dark eyes. It was like pity but not quite. Whatever it was it was more than she normally showed, or let show. Finny squeezed her small hand back just to let her know he was there.

Danielle watched as Ciel turned on his heel and began to walk away slowly. Sebastian rose a brow, "Bocchan?" he asked.

"Ridiculous. Bring my tea to my room." he ordered as he left. Such a dramatic change…

"Of course. Straight away." Sebastian replied with a slight bow. He turned toward the pillar where Danielle and the others were 'hidden'.

"Danielle." he called. Deep eyes widened as she was pulled from her reverie of thought, he grip on Finny's hand loosened. "Danielle?" Sebastian repeated. Said girl stood from behind the pillar, completely letting go of Finny's hand in that same instance.

Finny watched silently as she walked up toward Sebastian gracefully, looking nothing like she had a few moments before when Ciel had dismissed having a party. That look in her eyes was gone, they were guarded and void once more.

"Yes, Sebastian-san?" the brunette asked.

"Come with me," he said walking toward the kitchen. Danielle followed like a good little maid. Once in the kitchen Sebastian began preparing tea for the earl. "You will take this up to bocchan while I prepare a snack." he said smoothly. Danielle nodded and Sebastian frowned. With a sigh he leaned over and tugged at her pale cheeks. "Would it kill you to smile?" he asked trying to pull her face into a smile.

Danielle's chocolate eyes widened with surprise at first but she quickly slapped his gloved hands away exclaiming, "Get your hands off me!" Sebastian stepped back slightly surprised at her reaction. The girl's hand fell to her chest as her eyes darted to the floor, "I've long since forgotten how to truly smile." she said softly almost absentmindedly. When was the last time she smiled joyfully?

Sebastian's red eyes widened as he was overcome with recognition, Ciel had said those same words when he'd been trying to get him to smile for Elizabeth. Sebastian knew the reason, or rather _reasons_ why he'd forgotten how to smile but what trauma had this young girl gone through?

Danielle reached behind Sebastian and picked up the polished tray with the tea, "Excuse me," she said softly as she made her way out of the kitchen and toward Ciel's study. Sebastian smirked. Ah, this game keeps getting more and more interesting.

Danielle made her way to Ciel's study and knocked on the door, "Come in!" Ciel's voice came. She walked in holding the tray in her right hand as she closed the door behind her. Ciel scowled noticing it was her instead of Sebastian. That didn't go unnoticed by the young maid.

As she poured Ciel a cup of tea she quietly said, "With all do respect could you try not make your dislike for me so blatantly obvious." Ciel's scowl deepened.

"I don't dislike you," he said flatly as he accepted the cup of tea from her. But he didn't like her either. Hadn't they been through this before?

"Could've fooled me," she remarked with a heated glance at the young earl. Ciel's visible eye narrowed slightly at her annoying bluntness.

"I don't believe I gave you permission to be so casual or bold." he stated.

"And I don't believe I gave you any reason to be so cold to me." she replied stubbornly, it was a slip of the tongue, she hadn't even thought about their previous conversation. Only that she was tired of being treated like she wasn't there. Ciel was getting aggravated now.

"Oh? So lying is a normal thing for you to do?" Ciel countered. Danielle's eyes widened momentarily before her lips quirked downward in a slight frown.

"It's not like I wanted to lie to you….it's just…being someone's charity case yeah, that's something that you want publicly known, something you want to be judged on, the perfect first impression! 'Hi, I'm Danielle Williams, you're fiancée's incompetent maid.'" she said sarcasm dripping from her words. Ciel paused, he hadn't really thought of why only that she had.

"I suppose you had valid reason." he said.

"What about you Phatomhive-sama?" she asked curiously. Ciel rose a brow.

"What about me?" he inquired.

"You're a very vague person…" she stated.

"As are you, though that quality is particularly intriguing." he replied flatly. Danielle turned to him, her eyes falling on the black patch that covered his eye. Her eyes softened slightly.

"What happened-," she asked pale fingers reaching to tentatively brush the dark fabric of the eye patch, "-to your eye?"

Ciel paused, his body tensing, as her fingers brushed over the fabric, he sat there, dumbly, watching as the girl pulled her hand back from his face before he realized she'd asked a question. He cleared his throat, "I lost it when I was kidnapped."

"You were-"

"Yes, after my parents were killed when the manor was burned," he said stoically, cutting her off.

"Ah, we're both marred," she said subconsciously in a voice so soft no one should've been able to hear, but Ciel did and he frowned deeply at her comment.

"I don't need your pity." he remarked.

"Pity?" she asked, raising a brow.

"Yes, I don't need to be thought of as 'poor Ciel' or 'poor little Phantomhive' because I'm doing just fine on my own." he said.

"Oh I know that," she replied.

"Then what's with that look?" he said annoyed.

"I always thought I was the only one with a troubled past." she said, it surprised her that she had said that though.

Ciel scoffed. How did he know she wasn't lying again? What was her idea of troubled anyway? No new dress every month? Danielle's eyebrows drew together, "Don't act like you know me, Master Phantomhive." she said with a slight frown as she picked up the tray with leftover tea, "Sebastian-san will be up soon with a snack." she said lowly, walking from the room.

Ciel watched the door closed behind her, "Tch…" he scowled irritated. She never ceased to surprise him, that insane girl. But hey, what fun is a game without surprises?

* * *

Okay, so I won't be able to update till next week, I'm really busy this weekend. I mean, I can try but I can't garentee anything. I'm sorry.

Anyway, I'm not really proud of this chapter. I don't really like it. It's not as craptastic as the other though so that's a plus.

Sorry about length also. I didn't mean for it to be so short, but I wanted to post _something_ while I could.

Also, I drew some pictures of Danielle on deviantart. If you look up nerdyvampgrl they should come up, also there are some really cool drawings by my friend, XxHiKari17xX that should come up also. So yeah you can check it out if you want. ^^

Review please and I'll give you one big ol' virtual hug!


	7. Chapter 7

**Disclaimer: I don't own Black Butler. **

**~~~THIS CAN'T WAIT~~~**

Okay, Yeah this is the longest and suckiest chapter ever.

No joke.

It's so boring it might just reduce you to tears. I feel like it's just restating episode 12. Seriously...

Gah! I apologize for this! Please bear with me! The next chapter will be better and more interesting I promise! Just bear with me...

I don't think I can apologize enough...

Please don't hate me after reading this complete and utter crap.

* * *

The day droned on and it went pretty normal, or as normal as it could be in the Phantomhive manor. It wasn't until later on that evening that anything happened.

It started with a phone call, Sebastian answered. He went up to Ciel's study with a tray of tea to inform him. Danielle was walking past the study right as he told him.

"Elizabeth vanished?" she heard Ciel ask, astonished. The curious brunette stopped walking and stood in front of the door.

"Yes, her maid said she lost her on a street in Islington," Sebastian replied. Danielle rose a brow, how was that possible? They took a carriage back. Did she just jump out?

"Well then we'll head there immediately. Dear God, what was she thinking?" Ciel said almost absentmindedly. Ah, he's worried, that's a first, the small maid thought.

"First, please look at this," Sebastian said. Danielle bit her lip, look at what?

But, thankfully for Danielle, Ciel began to read the letter out loud, "The kidnappings Scotland Yard is frantically investigating that only involve young girls. The girls' bodies haven't been found, but they're most likely…The criminal sends a Hope piece to each victim in turn, a piece of the diamond said to bring ill luck to its owner…I never thought the treasure I lost out on would come up again in _this _connection,"

The brunette couldn't make much sense of the words but she didn't like the sound of them.

"What now, my lord?" Sebastian asked ever so politely.

"We dispel her Majesty's worries. That is our first priority. No matter what happens," Ciel replied curtly. Danielle blinked, her Majesty? The queen? Were the rumors about the Phantomhives being the queen's guard dogs true?

She was too caught up in her thoughts to register the footsteps, the door opened and Danielle was caught.

"What do you think your doing?" Ciel snapped. The girl looked up, sheepishly.

"I'm sorry, I couldn't help but overhear-"

"What did you hear?" Ciel asked.

"I…well, enough," she replied. Ciel scowled.

"Pardon me, bocchan, but perhaps she could be of assistance?" Sebastian said. Ciel glared at the tall male.

"How?" he asked irritably, Sebastian gave a slight smirk.

"In anyway possible," Danielle blurted, her curiosity was getting the best of her and she was dying to know more about what went on in this household.

"Fine," Ciel yielded.

Soon enough they were all sitting in a carriage on their way to God knows where. Danielle's normal uniform was covered by a fitted black coat and she twisted her black gloved hands nervously eyes darting to the man sitting on the floor of the carriage every now and then.

He was sleeping like a dog. He acted like one too and she had no idea why. The man curled up a bit tighter and Danielle shifted in her seat, was it weird to find him absolutely adorable?

"Bocchan?" Sebastian asked, his voice breaking through the silence.

"Open the carriage door," Ciel said. Danielle's eyebrows went wide.

"My lord?" he asked.

"Question those who knew the victims and come up with a suspect list. Name, addresses, then raid the scene of the crime. I'm sure three hours will be sufficient," he said.

"Are you mad?" Danielle blurted. "Three days would be sufficient!" Danielle argued. Sebastian smiled.

"As a butler of the Phantomhive estate something like this is a menial task," he said courteously. Danielle gaped.

"I'm not even sure-"

"While your doing that, I'll be dealing with some business. That's all there is to it," Ciel said, cutting her off.

"I see," Sebastian replied.

"Get on with it," Ciel said, eyes looking out of the window.

"Yes, my lord," Sebastian replied loyally and in the blink of an eye Sebastian was gone. Danielle stared at Ciel, who was staring out the window.

"If you are any bit of a burden, I won't hesitate to leave you," Ciel said almost to himself.

"Understood," the girl replied lowly.

The carriage came to a stop and Ciel stood, leading the gray haired man out by a leach. Danielle stood and followed both men out nervously.

"Hmm she said she lost Elizabeth somewhere around here…" Ciel said, thinking over the information. He let out a frustrated sigh, "But why did I have to bring him?" he asked, glaring as the gray haired man let out a bark.

Danielle gave a small nervous laugh, "You need some sort of babysitter," she commented with a slight smirk. Ciel sent her a glared before sighing and looking back toward Pluto.

Why was her life becoming so weird, "Well no matter. You're a dog so you can at least distinguish scents, right?" Ciel said to him.

"Oh so he is a dog…" Danielle said softly. Ciel's eye twitched in response but he basically paid her no heed.

He leaned down and let the dog sniff at a ribbon, sensing Danielle's confusion he clarified for her, "It's a ribbon from Lizzie's birthday gift,"

The dog, sneezed and began to scratch himself making Ciel groan, "Do you only listen to Sebastian?" he asked.

The dog began to run and it yanked Ciel along. Ciel stretched his hand back for Danielle to grab and she did. She gripped his hand tightly and struggled to keep up with Ciel and the dog. She stumbled as Ciel let go of her hand to grip the leash tighter and stop Pluto from getting to the female dog, not two feet ahead of them.

"Don't starting doing that here!" he grunted, yanking the leash. Danielle covered her mouth with her hand trying to stifle her laughs.

A theatrical voice from the roof came, "Oh my! A man in rut? My heart is beating faster!" Ciel gaped. Danielle blushed lightly at his words, her laughs silenced, and looked toward the source, "I am a hunter of love, my heart is ablaze seeing the handsome prey before me. Red with heat, sending sparks flying!"

Danielle heard Ciel gasp in that moment, his eyes setting themselves in a glare and his teeth clenching.

"I spy a gorgeous man!" The red haired man said, pointing toward Pluto. Danielle's eye twitched. His hair was longer than hers, a brilliant blood red, and artfully layered. His eyelashes were even prettier and longer than hers. He smiled, revealing pointed shark-like teeth.

"You're…" Ciel began in an angry voice.

"I'm truly a butler to die for!" The man said, cutting Ciel off and winking girlishly before continuing, "Though I am currently without a master," he said, waving his hand. He jumped from the roof where he was previously and landed in front of them. He pouted, "After the Madam Red incident, I was temporarily demoted and now I am a lowly assistant. That Will told me he won't give me my old post back until I collect some truly troublesome souls,"

Madam Red? Wasn't that Ciel's aunt? Who is Will? Collect souls? Just what is going on?

"Oh! That rotten sadist!" the red head yelled, "Though I suppose food tastes better when it's a little rotten…and ooh! Those cold eyes do give me a thrill~!" he squealed, rubbing his arms blushing. Danielle's cheeks tinted pink. "Ooh but this boy's roughness is very nice too!" He commented.

Ciel sneered causing the older man to smile slightly, raising a brow at the younger boy, "Dear me, do you intend on avenging your beloved aunt?" he asked.

"You killed Madam Red?" Danielle asked, her brown eyes wide. The man rose a brow at her but before he could say anything Ciel spoke up.

"Shut up!" Ciel said, his voice directed to the red haired man who smirked in reply.

"I don't see Sebby here. What can a little brat like you do?" he asked.

"Shut up!" Ciel yelled again as Pluto growled.

"Oh is he your knight tonight?" The red-head asked, eye brows raised, "Why does this little brat get all the good-looking men?" he asked himself with a sneer. Danielle blinked. Ah, he's so obviously gay…she thought with slight exasperation.

Pluto charged toward him, barking. The butler squealed twisting from side to side, "AH! He's going to attack!" he said fan girlishly, "At least be gentle!"

But Pluto ran right past him, charging past the squealing man and Ciel ran after the dog. Danielle followed after, somehow managing to keep up with the earl. The red head they left behind yelled angrily, upset about being denied.

Ciel and Danielle ran after Pluto through the corridors of the city until they reached a small store. An antique shop. And there in that antique shop window was a small doll, a small exact replica of-

"Lizzie!" Ciel said urgently.

He began to take a step but stopped when a voice from behind him said, "To-Die List, number 493, butler and puppeteer to the house of Mandalay, Drocell Keinz." the man finished with a smile.

A bark and a smashing of glass got Ciel running. Danielle paused before running, ending up alongside the red haired man.

"I'm Danielle, maid of the Phantomhive house," she said softly. The man gave a slight smirk.

"Grell Sutcliff," he replied curtly. Danielle frowned, there's more than that, she thought.

Ciel ran through the door and into the store and Grell and Danielle followed right after. Ciel gave a slight gasp as he saw Pluto, sitting on the floor chewing on the doll of Elizabeth. Ciel kneeled down and Pluto ran toward him, giving him the doll, "This is…" he paused, his eyes going wide.

He stood up and raced to the back door. The others followed and gaped at the doll-like house. Grell waltzed up to Ciel, "Ah, what a delightful estate," he said smiling slightly. Ciel looked up toward him, seemingly deep in thought.

Danielle stood by Pluto, feeling as useless as could be, hell the dog did more to help than she did.

"Grell, protect me." Ciel said firmly.

"Huh?" Grell asked, mouth falling open revealing his pointed teeth.

"I'll grant you any request," Ciel continued.

Grell's eye brow twitched as he flipped a piece of his shiny red hair back over his shoulder, "Don't be insulting, I'm not the kind of cheap girl you can just pay-"

Ciel cut him off, "I'll let you do anything you want with Sebastian for a day," he said, smirking slightly.

"Eh?" and with a complete change of attitude the man went on, "Anything I wish with Sebby, which means…I can even kiss him!" He asked, blushing wildly as his eyes sparkled. Danielle scowled slightly, ew.

"Do as you like," Ciel replied.

"With tongue?" Grell asked eagerly. Danielle's eye twitched.

"Whatever you order him to do," Ciel replied monotonously. Grell squealed.

"My Fired-Up meter is maxed out!~" he yelled happily, jumping into the air. Danielle sighed, suddenly overwhelmed with pity for Sebastian.

"Poor Sebastian-san…" she murmured causing Grell to stick out his lower lip in a pout.

"Let's go," Ciel said, beginning to run. Danielle gripped Pluto's leash and followed after her master and Grell running toward the huge house.

Grell pushed open the front doors with exuberance, "Alright here we go!" he yelled. Danielle's eyes fixed on the figure in the center of the room, a life size doll. A girl with sad lifeless blue eyes. It looked so real it was almost hard to think it was a doll.

Ciel ran up to it and Danielle followed Grell toward him, "Oh, doesn't that ring look just like yours?" Danielle asked with wide eyes.

Suddenly the doll's hand launched out and attached itself to Ciel's throat. Ciel gasped and tried to yank her arm away. He struggled and managed to gasp out, "Pluto…" Danielle blinked, noting that she'd let go of the leash then found Pluto to be chewing on a doll in the corner. So single-minded she sighed, "Y-You mongrel!" Ciel said in a choked voice as he struggled in the doll's vice-like grip.

A diamond fell from the ceiling, making the doll let Ciel loose and causing the poor boy to slide across the tile floor. Danielle's eyes shot toward the ceiling.

"Now, now. I wish you'd call the right name," Grell said from his place on top of the golden crystal chandelier that hung from the ceiling.

"Grell!" Ciel said from his place on the floor.

"Isn't that a little dramatic?" Danielle asked with upturned brows.

"Not for him," came Ciel's reply.

"Reapers have tools to harvest souls. Yes! Death scythes!" he said pulling out two pairs of red scissors.

Danielle's mouth fell open, "How anticlimactic…" she muttered before her eyes went wide, reaper? As in death god? As in…not human? Maybe she's just dreaming…"Those…are just scissors," Danielle said confused, "Where's your scythe?"

"I can't help it Will took my custom death scythe away!" He yelled childishly, waving his arms around. "I miss it's vibrations so much!" he yelled, eyes going wide and a crazy smile splitting his face, "That's it I'll chop you to bits!" he shrieked.

"Wait! Don't kill her! She's not a doll!" Ciel yelled.

"Kiss in the heavens!" Grell yelled.

Danielle took a step back as the doll fell to the floor, brown sand seeping from the slice in her neck. Ciel ran up to the broken doll, "Was it a doll after all?" Danielle asked, as Ciel kept examining it.

"Wood and clay will wash away, wash away, wash away," a voice sang to the tune of 'My Fair Lady', from the corridor. Danielle gasped as Grell and Ciel's heads shot up to see the source.

"This doll was a failure," said a man carrying a three arm candle holder.

He had orange hair that spiked out in random directions. His skin was porcelain pale and under his right eye was a symbol, a black fleur de lis. His eyes…his eyes were violet and vacant.

"So I thought, 'I must make them much, much stronger'," the man continued. He brought his white-gloved hands up and began to sing, "Build it up with iron and steel, iron and steel, iron and steel. Build it up with iron and steel, my fair lady," he sang.

As he finished his song, dolls were coming in from one of the corridors, and they all had those same sad, empty eyes.

"Hmph anyone that stands in the way of Sebby's and my love…" Grell whined before running off toward the dolls.

"Grell!" Ciel said, stretching his arm out to the insane death god.

"Are you an idiot!"

"…gets _this_!" the red head yelled, swinging his scissors of doom. (a/n: I couldn't resist .)

He screeched as he bounced off the doll, his scissors doing the dolls no harm, "Th-They're hard!" he said, astonished. (1)

"Grell, this is an order," Ciel began firmly, "You and Pluto are to play with the dolls here…forever,"

"Huh?" Grell said, looking at the earl wide-eyed. Ciel squeezed the ring in his palm tightly. Just then a doll aimed a punch at Grell which he dodged, ungracefully.

"Danielle, come!" He ordered.

"Yes, master!" she replied a slight smirk of her face.

The small brunette ran after her master as Grell began to shriek, "You're going to l-leave me behind! You're inhuman!"

"I believe that's the wrong order…" Danielle whispered.

"A _reaper_ is calling _me _that?" Ciel yelled as he ran. Danielle gave a breathy laugh, that was exactly what she was thinking.

She ran after Ciel through a dark corridor and up a flight of stairs, she could tell Ciel was deep in thought. She didn't need to be able to see his face to know that. She knew he was thinking about Elizabeth. It was strange, she was going through all this for someone she despised but she tried not to put much thought into that, instead she told herself it was for Ciel. For her master's sake.

They reached the end of the stairs and Ciel threw the door open revealing a pastel colored room. Ciel ran in, Danielle following on his heels.

"Ciel Phantomhive," said the voice of the puppeteer. Ciel stopped walking and looked up to wear the man was sitting. "You are very beautiful. I must make you into a worthy doll," he said.

"Is it right to call a man beautiful?" Danielle whispered lowly, cursing her mouth and not wishing to be heard.

"Where is Elizabeth!" Ciel shouted.

"Elizabeth-sama!" Danielle yelled.

"Now, what shall I make you out of?" The man wondered, out loud. He tilted his head and Danielle furrowed her brows, his movements were so…mechanic.

"Is he..." she began but was cut off before she had a chance to finish.

"Clay will wash away, yet I say iron is too crude," Ciel sneered, "So I thought to myself 'build it up with silver and gold, silver and gold, silver and gold. Build it up with silver and gold, my fair lady," as he was singing Ciel had grabbed Danielle's hand and pulled her to the large doors of another corridor.

He pulled the door open and pulled Danielle behind him. But they both stopped once they looked around the room. The room seemed like it had no walls and it was covered with painted masks. When the man stopped singing the masks lips began to move and they began to sing in unison. "Build it up with silver and gold, silver and gold, silver and gold," Ciel covered his ears and clenched his teeth. Danielle let out a small whimper as she covered her own ears and ran after Ciel trying to ignore the singing, "Build it up with silver and gold, my fair lady,"

"Shut up!" Danielle yelled.

Ciel and Danielle ran up a never ending staircase as the masks continued to sing together. An eternity seemed to pass before Ciel opened the doors of another room and Danielle slammed it shut behind the two adolescents. Ciel leaned his head back on the door, breathing heavily.

The purple emblem in the middle of the carpeted room seemed to become more apparent and Ciel's eyes went wide.

"C-Ciel-sama?" Danielle asked in a small voice. But it was too late, Ciel's eyes were gone.

Moments past before Ciel's eyes returned, lit with a new determination, "Truly, nothing good every happens on your birthday, does it?" asked a familiarly smooth voice.

Danielle spun from Ciel toward the open window and gasped at the sight of Sebastian. Ciel looked toward his butler, surprised, "You lost your mansion, you lost your parents, and now…will you lose Lady Elizabeth?" Sebastian went on.

"Sebastian!" Ciel and Danielle both said in startled voices.

"Take that back, Sebastian!" Ciel yelled.

"Take what back?" Sebastian asked, innocently.

"That jeer!" Ciel yelled back.

"Bocchan, you told me you would be taking care of some trifling business. Was that business to dotingly savor your wretched past and wallow in the pleasures of humiliation?" Ciel clenched his teeth and Danielle subconsciously clenched her fists. "Didn't you say at the frost fair that your body and your ring had been shattered and reborn? That you were far past being afraid of shattering?" Sebastian asked. His body…was…shattered? Could that mean…

Ciel's voice broke Danielle from her reservoir of thought, "That's right. Don't recite my words back to me," Ciel said firmly. Sebastian gave a small smirk.

"Build it up with iron and steel, iron and steel, iron and steel," that voice of the orange haired man sang through the walls. Ciel ran in front of the door and pushed Danielle toward Sebastian. The petite girl stumbled back into the older man's arms, "Build it up with iron and steel, my fair lady," came the singing voice.

The doors opened and in came a full army of sad eyed dolls, "Was Grell defeated?" Ciel asked appalled. Sebastian let Danielle go and stand on her own. He walked briskly over to Ciel.

"I see, so he is controlling them with his tone," he said. He took his place next to Ciel, "In that case…" he began to sing, "Iron and steel will bend and break, bend and break, bend and break," the dolls stopped walking toward Ciel and Sebastian. They began to sway their heads back and forth and Danielle cleared her throat and joined Sebastian in singing. "Iron and steel will bend and break, my fair lady," both servants finished. Sebastian smirked, jumping behind a doll and breaking its head from its neck.

He repeated the process until all the dolls were broken and he was left kneeling to Ciel, "My fair lady," he finished.

"Who are you calling a lady?" Ciel snapped angrily. Sebastian stood upright. Danielle gave a laugh from her place.

"Let us depart, bocchan," he said. Danielle cleared her throat, had they forgotten her?

"No. Ciel Phantomhive is my master's possession now," The puppeteer said.

"Possession? I am not a-"

"The proof is that ring on your finger!" the man said cutting the earl off, "I can tell. That Hope piece is a present my master sends to those who will be made into dolls," He explained.

"Your master?" Sebastian inquired.

"Ciel Phantomhive will become a doll. A doll made of silver and gold," the man went on, ignoring Sebastian's question.

Sebastian gave a smirk, "Silver and gold will be stolen away, stolen away, stolen away," the dark haired demon sang. He picked Ciel bridal style and jumped toward the window, "Danielle!" he said urgently. The girl jumped up onto the window sill and onto the demon's back, hooking her legs around his waist.

Sebastian jumped from rooftop, before landing on a stone bridge not far from the house. Once Sebastian landed, Danielle jumped from his back and stumbled slightly. Sebastian let Ciel down and let out a sigh.

Ciel brought his hand back and slapped the demon, hard, leaving a red mark on his pale skin. Sebastian stared wide-eyed at the earl as did Danielle. She anticipated his response.

"What about Lizzie? You still haven't saved her!" Ciel shouted. "I thought I ordered you to solve the kidnappings! Saving Lizzie, who fell victim to the kidnappings, is the first-"

"An order is not the same as a contract," Sebastian said. Danielle furrowed her brows, "Just as you give first priority to orders from the Queen. I prioritize your life. I have devoted myself to your service and protection all this time. I couldn't stand for you to be stolen from me now," Sebastian explained. Ciel reached into his coat and pulled out a ring, Danielle recognized it immediately as the ring he took from the doll, "Bocchan?" Sebastian questioned.

"It would seem the ring is the mark of his next target," Ciel said before smirking, "And I have two of them. Protecting me now will no doubt require some effort," he finished, showing two of his rings.

"Nevertheless I shall…" Sebastian bowed, and the howl of a dog was heard.

"Pluto?" Ciel said. Danielle looked around for the gray haired male.

"Plu-Plu?" she called lowly patting her knee like she'd seen Finny do before. The men carried on their conversation while the girl called to the dog.

"I searched every corner of the mansion, but there was no sing of Lady Elizabeth. The only place left is that sealed-off tower," Sebastian said. Danielle followed Sebastian's eyes and noticed the tower.

When the trio arrived there Grell was holding Pluto's leash, keeping him from going into the tower, "Hey wait! What's the matter with you!" Grell asked nervously.

"You two are alive?" Ciel asked. Danielle tried not to show it but she was shocked also. Grell caught sight of Sebastian. Grell blushed and jumped to Sebastian.

"Sebby!" he yelled, grinning madly. Pluto jumped and, using Grell as a boost, onto Sebastian. He clung to his side tightly. Ciel, frowned slightly and Danielle, gave a small chuckle at Sebastian's magnetism.

Grell gave a girlish shriek of jealously before pointing to the man, "Wait, could that be…a demon hound?" Grell asked.

"You just noticed?" Ciel asked. Danielle gaped and Grell screamed fan girlishly.

"Oh la la! A passionate night with a beast! How immoral!" Grell yelled, spinning around in

the air.

"Calm yourself!" Danielle whispered harshly.

"You're so wanton," Sebastian commented. "I've been waiting for you, Pluto," Sebastian said. "Once the seal of the underworld has been placed on a door, only a hellhound can open it," Sebastian explained. Pluto's collar began to shine as he gave out a yelp of pain.

"His collar's shining," Ciel said.

"I-Is he alright?" Danielle asked worriedly.

"So is the door," Grell said with upturned brows. Pluto grabbed at his collar, thrashing his head and grunting in pain. He, himself, began to glow until he was a giant silver-haired wolf. Danielle jumped, stumbling into Ciel. He sighed, annoyed and placed a hand on Danielle's shoulder.

"Calm down," Ciel said. Danielle shouldn't have been comforted by his unemotional words but she was, unnaturally so.

Pluto howled and Danielle stared up at the giant dog, scowling when Grell shrieked, "Too, Too big!"

"He's a dog for goodness sake!" she said with a sneer.

"And a gorgeous man…" he grinned.

The dog ran into the tower and Ciel removed his hand from Danielle and shouted, "He did it again!"

"It's all right," Sebastian said, "Let's have him guide us," he said with a slight smirk.

Soon all four of them were running up flight after flight of stairs till they reached a room, a particularly dark room and there sitting in the corner was a pretty blonde doll with perfect porcelain skin. Elizabeth. Ciel ran up to the doll, "Lizzie," he said urgently, "Lizzie!" he said louder.

Grell gave a shrug, "I guess we were too late," he said. Danielle elbowed him, hard, in the ribs. "EEE!" He shrieked.

"No," Ciel whispered, gripping her shoulders he began to yell, "Lizzie! Lizzie! Lizzie!"

The doll's eyes opened tiredly, revealing deep emerald orbs, "Hmm?" she murmured lowly. Ciel's own blue eyes went wide.

"Lizzie," he sighed, "Thank goodness," he sighed.

"That ring…" she said softly. Ciel looked down toward the ring on his thumb, "So you were pleased, Ciel," she said with a slight smile. Ciel paused trying to know what she was talking about.

"The this was her gift for you," Sebastian said. Danielle's eye brows shot up as she remembered the morning that seemed so far away now. She remembered Lizzie pressing that velvet box into Ciel's hands.

"But it's foolish…why would you give me…" Ciel said.

"Yes, why?" That mechanical voice said as invisible strings pulled Elizabeth up into the air. She swayed, her dress spinning around her and her eyes taking on a look of worry. "Why does her body move despite her will?" The man's voice chimed once more.

Grell, Sebastian, and Danielle looked back toward the sill. A spear, ending in an ax-like blade came flying in Lizzie's direction and she caught it, "Why does she hurt the ones she loves?" the voice added.

"Elizabeth!" Ciel shouted.

Elizabeth swung the ax, jumping down from her place in the air and screaming, "No!" Before her blade could hurt Ciel, Sebastian grabbed him and jumped to the side. Elizabeth kept swinging and screaming trying to get Ciel.

"Grell. You can see this too, can't you?" Sebastian asked. Danielle swung her feet slightly, from her place sitting next to Grell who was talking about his nails and hair.

"I suppose but I might chip my nails so…" Grell said.

"Please," Sebastian said in a pleading voice. Grell jumped up immediately.

"Oh, Sebby! You're asking me for something! In that case, during the kiss, c-can there be tongue?" He asked rubbing his legs together and blushing. Danielle sent the man a disgusted scowl.

"I haven't the slightest idea what your talking about but I can; in fact, tie a cherry stem into a knot with my tongue," he stated. Grell blushed and squealed.

"OH YES!" he screeched. He ran up to Elizabeth, on her side. "It's unforgivable for a little girl like you to have a better blade than me," he said with a disgusted face.

"Stop Grell!" Ciel yelled. Grell sliced with his scissors and Elizabeth fell to the floor, Danielle rushed over to her at the same time Ciel did, "Elizabeth!" he said worriedly.

Sebastian brushes his fingers over the pink fabric of Elizabeth's dress and pulls off a piece of string. "It's a puppet string," he says.

"This sharp cut only comes with a death scythe, well Sebby! I'm amazing, aren't I? Compliment me, compliment me!" Grell begs childishly.

Sebastian stands, "Good for you. Not anyone would run with scissors," he says monotonously.

"Oh I'm flattered to death!" Grell shrieked.

"These puppet strings lead to…" Sebastian trailed off looking toward the ceiling.

"So I thought to myself-" The orange haired man said pulling his arms back. Danielle gasped as she looked down to find strings tied around her, restricting her movements. "-what will my next puppet be made out of?" he finished. Sebastian looked up and rose a brow.

"Then I'll ask you this-what are you made of?" he asked slowly. Danielle twisted slightly and found the strings gave no leeway.

"Hmm? What am I…made of?" Drocell asked himself.

"Yes. You see, you don't seem to be made of very high-quality materials," Sebastian said.

"So I thought to myself, 'I know I must be human and yet lately I often find termites in my ears,'"

Sebastian kicked up the ax, hitting the puppeteer right in the face. He stumbled back and the strings loosened.

"Grell," Sebastian called.

"Ah, a loving collaboration, right, Sebby!" he yelled, running his arms outstretched. Sebastian jumped up, foot landing on the death god's face and using him as a way to propel himself to where the orange haired puppeteer was standing.

"I sense none of the way or the style of a butler in you," Sebastian said, swinging his weapon at Drocell. He caught it but the damage was done and the puppeteer was thrown to the floor, landing on top of Grell.

Danielle sighed, and looked back to Elizabeth, who was laying in Ciel's arms. Something about that made her uneasy, she didn't understand why it did. After all they were engaged nothing was wrong with Ciel being protective. Nothing, so why did it give her such a sick feeling?

Sebastian landed in front of Ciel, "I would never loose to a man without style," he stated.

"That's my Sebby!" Grell said, rubbing up against Sebastian's legs.

"So he was a doll, too?" Ciel and Danielle asked simultaneously. Grell gave a confused look.

"Drocell Keinz. His soul was collected five years ago, but for some reason, we detected signs of survival."

"Someone must have fitted him with a makeshift soul," Sebastian said.

"Ciel," came Lizzie's high voice. Ciel looked down.

"Lizzie!" he said before calming, "Lizzie, let's go home," he said in an attempt to relax her.

"Ciel, I want to…give you a birthday party…" she whispered. His eyebrows drew downward as he thought over her request. "Yes…please do," he relented. Danielle noted the look in Ciel's eyes and bit the inside of the lip. He really cared for her. Whether it was romantic or not was still uncertain but it was there.

Elizabeth's eyes fluttered to a close as she fell asleep and the shiny look of porcelain vanished from her features. Her head lolled to the side and she was asleep with a slight smile on her face.

"You can rest easy It's all-"

"It's _not_ all over, it appears." Sebastian said cutting off Ciel's reassuring comment.

Danielle's head snapped toward Drocell as he began to lift himself from the floor, "So I thought to myself 'I will report to my master,'" he said, walking on wobbly legs.

"What's wrong with him?" Grell asked confused, "He's all torn up and he still wants to serve his master?"

"I can understand. You see he's merely one hell of a butler," Sebastian said with a smirk. Drocell wobbled over to the door and pushed the door open.

"Mas…ter…" he whispered. As the door opened his body gave way and he collapsed uselessly to the floor, his eyes rolling back into his head.

There in the center of the room was a chair, the back of it facing the doorway where Sebastian, Grell, Danielle and Ciel had just ran in. "Pluto!" Ciel gasped.

There sitting in front of the chair was the familiar silver haired dog, of unusual sizes, Pluto. The dog licked the hand of the person sitting at the chair in a happy way.

"Why is he being so friendly?" Ciel asked in a tight voice.

"I'm very sorry," a deep voice said, "My butler is so incompetent, I'm unable to offer you hospitality," he continued.

"So you're the culprit. Why would you make girls into dolls?"

"Flowers, eras, and also people are only beautiful for finite moments. Doll making is noble work, preserving in this world, the most beautiful and perfect of people," the smooth, deep voice finished.

"What bad taste!" Grell commented, "What's perfect about those-"

"Why were you targeting me?" Ciel asked cutting Grell off and making the older man pout childishly.

Danielle stood like Sebastian behind Ciel, eyes glued to the back of the chair that hid the man responsible for the kidnappings. But unlike Sebastian she was hiding her fear.

Ciel reached down and pulled the thin ring off his thumb while saying, "I have no intention of becoming one of your precious dolls!" he said angrily, throwing the ring at the back of the chair.

"Please limit your insolence," the voice said.

"What!" Ciel asked, trying to remain calm.

"My butler's head was made from straw. I cannot fathom why he wanted you. Ciel Phantomhive, you have carried the fate of death since your birth. And that body of yours is already unclean," Ciel's eyes went wide as did Danielle's. Both adolescents were filled with a sudden horror.

Danielle instinctively thought the man was speaking to her but when Ciel spoke her stomach dropped, "How do you know about that?" Ciel asked tightly. Danielle's head snapped to her master, her chocolate eyes wide. Just what was this man talking about?

"I cannot forgive the fact that something like you two exists in this world," Ciel's jaw clenched. The man's words were now directed at the both of them but Ciel didn't notice the difference. Danielle felt like she was being stabbed with each word that he said, "Unclean, unwanted, and barren. That's why I wanted to erase you both. You two filthly children," the man explained. Ciel's eyes narrowed and Danielle felt like she couldn't breathe.

"What?" Ciel ground out. Danielle on the other hand felt weak, so angry she might explode but too small to do anything, just like she had when she forced to her knees by a greedy, heartless stranger.

"Get rid of the unclean," the man chanted his voice raising an octave as his chair began to rock, "Get rid of the unwanted, get rid of the barren! Get rid of it! Get rid of it!" the man's voice became high under-toned with insanity. Danielle's fists clenched tightly as her mouth fell open a swear on her tongue. It slipped from her lips in a whisper. Sebastian's lips quirked.

Ciel and Danielle's eyes hardened, "Stop that!" they both yelled running in front of the chair. Danielle stumbled backward at the sight of the "man" in the chair. Ciel gasped lowly. Nothing but a poorly made scarecrow, for Christ's sake. Sebastian, and Grell ran up, standing behind Ciel.

"This is…" Sebastian began. Then there in the lap of the thing was a small tiny puppet. No strings attached. It began to move and the moment it did everyone gasped except for Grell who let out a yelp and hid behind Sebastian. Danielle's hand brushed Ciel's and in the moment her hand was seized by his.

The puppet stood and looked at the four people before it let out a screech and it's mouth fell open revealing pointed wooden teeth and it's eyes rolled back in its head. Ciel gasped and took a step back while Danielle jumped and squeezed Ciel's hand. She suddenly thankful he had taken hers.

"Sebastian! Catch it!" Ciel ordered. Danielle looked toward the demon.

"The one controlling the doll is not in the vicinity. Also, there are unseen strings attached all around here. They are far from pleasant," Ciel looked down toward Elizabeth who was still lying on the floor of the room.

"I don't understand..." Danielle said furrowing her brows together.

"Let's go," Ciel said. Danielle loosened her grip on Ciel's hand and he let it go all together. Sebastian walked swiftly to the sleeping blonde and picked her up effortlessly whilst Grell whined about how he was never carried.

The whole way out Danielle's eyes were glued to either Sebastian or Ciel's backs. So many questions so little time. Once they were outside the sun was rising, dawn. Grell jumped toward Sebastian blushing brightly. "SEBBY! GIVE ME A HOT KISS!" He screamed. Said butler promptly knelt to the ground causing the red haired shinigami to go flying into the rough dirt.

"What should I do, bocchan?" He asked calmly, "Would you like me to take revenge for Madam Red right here?" he asked. Danielle looked toward her master waiting for his reply.

But at the butler's words Grell jumped up and gave a nervous laugh, "Okay, okay I'll leave the kiss for next time! Bye bye~" he sang jumping into the trees.

"Eh..." Danielle pinched the bridge of her nose.

"Stop right th-!" Sebastian yelled.

"Leave it. It's fine," Ciel said calmly. Sebastian looked toward his master confusion etched on his perfect features. Danielle's stomach dropped as Ciel walked toward Elizabeth and let his gloved fingers brush her cheek, "I don't want Elizabeth to be bathed in anymore blood," he said. Sebastian gave a slight smirk at his master's words.

"That would be a good idea," Danielle spoke.

"Ah," he sighed.

They reached the mansion and Sebastian whisked the still unconscious Elizabeth to the guest room. Ciel was making his way upstairs to his own quarters when a tug on his forearm stopped him.

"You have a lot of explaining to do Master Phantomhive,"

* * *

(1) That's what she said! XD

*twidles fingers*

So...uh, how was it?

Review!


	8. Chapter 8

**Disclaimer: I don't own Kuroshitsuji, yeah it's really saddening...I know.**

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"Happy birthday, Ciel!" Elizabeth said excitedly.

"Congratulations!" Finny, Bard, and Meirin sang happily. Danielle stood idly by Finny watching with amusement while Ciel scowled, leaning on his palm.

"Congratulations, Ciel!" Elizabeth said, pink dusting her cheekbones as she giggled in excitement.

"Happy birthday, master Phantomhive," Danielle added after a nudge from Finny. She toyed with the purple and yellow triangular birthday hat on top her head as Sebastian brought out dessert.

"How bothersome…" Ciel muttered, "Isn't it better to cut that in the kitchen?" he reprimanded. Sebastian merely smirked in reply and handed Ciel the neatly cut piece of what looked to be cake. Ciel's scowl deepened slightly but he sat a little straighter and took a bite with a sigh. His eyes went wide and his brows furrowed as he spit something out into his own palm.

There in the middle of his hand was a ring, a thin gold ring with the hope diamond in the center.

"Since it's nearly Christmas I've made Christmas pudding. It's said if you find a ring in it then you will be blessed with happine-" Elizabeth squealed, seeming to have no recollection of the previous night's incidents. She hopped daintily over to the earl and hugged him tightly.

The blonde clasped Ciel's hand with her own and smiled, "This is great! Now, you'll be blessedly happy, Ciel," she says with elation in her green eyes. Danielle eyed the ring that was being held in Ciel's fingers with curiosity.

"That type of thing is-" Ciel started but was cut off by Elizabeth's voice.

"Paula, ring the bells~!" Elizabeth called.

"Yes, my lady!" Paula said ringing the small gold bells happily, a pale pink blush starting over her cheekbones. Elizabeth laughed happily as everyone else seemed to do as well, smiling in elation they all chorused with laughter.

"What the?" Ciel said his scowl returning as he leaned his face on his palm, his pale cheeks tinted pink.

Danielle smiled softly and walked over to the young earl, letting her fingers dance on his shoulder, she leaned down to his ear, "At least try to understand her wishes…just pretend to be happy. For her," Ciel looked up at the girl who smiled softly, ruthlessly staring into her master's eyes. She really didn't have good manners at all and in all truth, finesse was something she was in great need of.

Ciel turned his eyes away from her, "I don't need you to lecture me," came his reply. Danielle's lips quirked and she gave some sort of a laugh.

"I know," she replied, standing back upright. She saw as Elizabeth twirled in her blood red, ribbon adorned gown, her smile lighting her face, "But you might want to hear me out just this once…" she added lowly. His eyes darted toward her face and they followed their line of sight, right toward Elizabeth. He gave a soft sigh of defeat.

"Fine," he muttered. Danielle smiled softly and walked back to Finny who held out a hand.

"Want to dance?" he asked, taking her by surprise. Danielle blinked owlishly, having never danced before…well not seriously anyway.

"S-Sure," Danielle replied, her hesitance evident in her voice. Finny grinned and took her hand swiftly before placing the other at her thin waist. Danielle placed her free hand on Finny's shoulder and they began to sway to the music flowing from the violin Sebastian had brought out.

Ciel watched from his seat as the two servants began to twirl about the room, Danielle's short dress spinning around her body. He suddenly felt uneasy and dismissed it as the cake/pudding's fault. He turned once more watching as Danielle clumsily matched Finny's steps, her cheeks tinted pink and her laugh a nervous one. The petite maid missed a step, tripping and nearly falling but Finny caught her effortlessly and the stunned look and red blush on the brunette's face made Ciel's eyes narrow.

For a reason unknown it irked him that he had not been the one to catch her, the one to cause that adorable blush to spread across her cheeks like wildfire.

-next day-

With her hair falling around her shoulders she walked to her master's door, the black boots on her feet making clipped noises against the dark grain of the wood. Danielle was not one to forget about things very easily, especially when they probed her interest. So naturally she hadn't forgot of the events a few days prior.

She gave a curt knock and opened the door without waiting for an answer. Ciel sat at his desk sipping a cup of tea while Sebastian placed a perfectly cut piece of pie before him.

"Hello Master Phantomhive, Sebastian-san," Danielle greeted both demon and earl with a nod as she shut the door behind her.

"What is it?" Ciel asked flatly. Danielle smirked and walked up to the tall butler.

Her fingers tapped his shoulder, "What exactly are you?" she asked with an innocent curiosity that brought a smirk to the man's lips and a scowl to the adolescents.

"To ask such a question in such a blunt manner-"

"Isn't he merely another servant?" she asked cutting his mumbling off. Ciel's visible eye widened.

"A-Ah…that he is…merely another pawn in my chess game," he muttered, placing his cup down to rest on the cherry wood.

"Wha-" Danielle started to rebuke.

"Anyhow…all you need to know is I made a contract with a demon and Sebastian is said demon, when the condition is fulfilled then he gets my soul. That's all. That also explains all of Sebastian's antics and the messes we seem to be finding ourselves in," he spoke flatly.

Danielle; however, merely stared at her master with unblinking eyes, "How…no, why would you make a contract with a demon?" she asked, too shocked to even consider manners. Ciel gave a frown.

"I was in the hands of vile criminals and desperately wanted freedom," he said vaguely.

"So vile you needed to take a measure as drastic as calling upon a demon?" she asked boldly. Ciel tensed visibly.

"Yes," was all he said.

"What could they possibly have done to-"

"Do you really believe you're in any place to ask such a thing?" Ciel snapped, cutting the girl off, "A replaceable pawn has no right to speak in such a manner to the king. I could throw you away in a minute. You are just a pawn, one of my many game pieces you understand tha-" it was swift, the sound of impact was loud, and the red mark forming on his cheek was hard to miss. Danielle pulled her hand back, glaring at the boy she called master. Ciel's eyes were wide in shock, had she really just slapped him?

Danielle was looking down, to the point where her hair covered her eyes, shielding them from view, "A pawn?" she scoffed, "In no world am I anyone's pawn…I am no one's game piece Master Phantomhive and you are most definitely _not _my king," she said in a clipped tone, her voice on edge of raising. Ciel glared at the girl.

"You're my maid, aren't you?" he asked a smirk curving her lips.

"Then that makes you as about as high as a piece of dirt in my book, why would I look up to some egotistical slave-driver?" she snapped.

"Egotistical?" Ciel asked, shocked.

"Yes, you seem quite full of yourself, _King_," she remarked. Ciel frowned deeply.

"You're about to lose your job," he warned.

"I'd rather die than live in a place where I'm valued as a chess piece," she replied, turning on her heel and leaving. Ciel watched the door close, his jaw clenched tightly in displeasure as Sebastian gave a chuckle.

"She's a feisty one, hmm?" he murmured.

"I suppose, interesting I'll give her that but anything good is canceled out by her pure annoyance," Ciel remarked, "Why didn't you stop her from slapping me?" he asked suddenly.

"Because it was of no real harm to you, plus I was interested in seeing where she was going…but now I know where she comes from entirely," the demon replied a smirk tugging at his pallid lips.

"What are you-"

"I'll be taking this back to the kitchen now," Sebastian said, cutting the boy off and leaving with the cart.

"Jeez…" Ciel said annoyed as the door closed behind Sebastian.

Sebastian walked to the kitchen and he flashed a smirk when he saw the petite little maid cleaning dishes with a ferocity fueled by anger. She scrubbed the dishes muttering things like, "Who does he think he is?" under her breath. Finny tried to speak to her but was scared away by her angry aura of doom. "Danielle?" Sebastian called smoothly. Said girl turned to him the flames of anger falling away from her in the instant she met his eyes.

"Yes?" she replied.

"Are you really that angered?" he questioned, striding toward her.

"Well, yes I am that and incredibly confused. I mean for one, I hate being put down like that and two, what could those people have done that was so horrible he called upon…you?" she asked, desperate for answers.

"Well, to the first question, Ciel values nearly everyone as a mere pawn, you are not alone," he said.

"It's still no excuse to put himself on such a high pedestal," she quipped.

"Perhaps you're correct," he replied amusement flashing in his red eyes.

"I am correct, Sebastian-san," she said firmly. The man chuckled in reply, "Now, about my other question…what did they do to him?" she inquired delicately.

"Hmm," Sebastian pressed his lips together, "To put it lightly…he was made to do the same things as you," he finished. That's when all the color drained from Danielle's face, "I'll be taking over the dish-washing from here," Sebastian said taking off his jacket and rolling up his sleeves.

"A-A-Alright," Danielle stumbled over her own feet as she tried to make her way to her room. She lacked finesse in every sense of the word on a normal day but now she couldn't even walk in a straight line.

When she finally made it to her room she collapsed on her bed, pale as a ghost with her heart beating a mile a minute, and her stomach in her throat. She felt sick to the marrow of her bones and she wished she had never asked. If Sebastian knew about her past who else did? Surely he hadn't told, Ciel had been the one to ask her about her past if he had known he would have told the young master without a second thought.

Maybe he didn't tell anyone. The pain in her chest lessened at the thought. But even if it was only Sebastian that knew, it was someone and it brought shame to her being. Danielle covered herself in the sheets and clenched her eyes shut, memories flashing through her ones that brought stinging tears to her dark eyes.

It didn't matter if he was the only one.

All that mattered was that...

_He knew._

_

* * *

_

Sorry everyone, yeah I've just been really busy.

I know this is a really short update and overly late...sorry.

Anywhoo...I now have writer's block so I think I'm going to quit following the anime for a while. I'm just going to do my own thing for a while, just so I have a little bit more free will in my writing.

Sorry again for the lateness and shortness of this chapter.

Hope you enjoyed it, review please~!


	9. Chapter 9

**Disclaimer: I don't own Black Butler, otherwise this wouldn't be on Fanfiction.**

* * *

She woke up once more, at noon, her hair a mess and her eyes red from crying. Even in sleep, her tears still managed to stream down her face. With a sigh, she stumbled to the bathroom and washed her face off. She frowned at the girl in the mirror, "You're disgusting…" she muttered to herself, splashing cold water on her face again at the pricking of tears.

After a matter of minutes she looked decent, her hair was well kempt and her face lacked the signs of tears but her eyes were hollow. Worry was filling her head and making her anxious.

How could she look at Sebastian again?

She took a breath and walked out of the room, right into a hard chest, she bounced back from impact. Her hands went to her aching nose as she let out a surprised yelp, "AH! I'm sorry!" a familiar voice said urgently. Danielle blinked from behind her fingers.

"F-Finny?" she asked softly.

The gardener smiled, "I haven't seen you all day, I just wanted to make sure you were feeling well," he said sheepishly, rubbing the back of his neck with a gloved hand.

"Oh, that's…really sweet," she smiled up at him, her hands falling to her sides, "Thank-you,"

"Eh, it was no problem!" he assured with a bright grin.

A couple minutes ago Danielle was feeling horrible, absolutely terrible…but now, with Finny here…she felt content. With a thoughtful glance at the smiling blonde Danielle's smile finally reached her eyes.

"Ah, you want to help me tend to the roses?" Finny asked eagerly. Danielle gave a crisp nod.

"Of course,"

The duo walked down the hall, Finny doing most of the talking. Danielle's mind far off from her situation. From the end of the hall, Sebastian gave a smirk this game was getting to be really, interesting. He turned on his heel and walked back toward the Master's study, making bets with himself of who was going to crack first. Who would give in first…he wondered.

Off in that study of his, Ciel cursed to himself. Why was that damn maid so intriguing! What was that secret she was hiding? What was that he saw in her eyes? What was it that made him think of her so often?

Ciel groaned and spun around in his chair, looking out into the garden and seeing two figures. Both all too familiar. His lips twisted into a scowl as he saw Danielle and Finny admiring the roses together. His teeth bit into his lower lip as Finny picked a beautiful little yellow flower and brushed her hair back before placing it behind her ear. Ciel's eyes narrowed into a death glare at the blush that spread across her cheeks.

"Dammit!" he cursed as Danielle sat down in the grass among some white daisies and began to thread a crown of flowers as Finny talked, gesturing with his hands and laughing.

Why was this bothering him so much! Why? Danielle was a mere pawn. She had no value to him at all. None. Absolutely none. He couldn't care less about her, he honestly couldn't. No matter what she said or did, she was his pawn. Why was it that he was bothered? Why? Why was it that this damned girl was always swirling in his thoughts. Ciel simply could not understand.

It had to be the mystery, he thought. Maybe it was his curiosity that was causing her to intrigue him so much. Whenever he looked into her eyes he could see that she was hiding _something. _He desperately wanted to know what but when he had asked she became angered and that only probed his interest more. Ciel gave a sigh, placing his chin in his awaiting palm. Just what was that girl hiding from the world?

Ciel spun himself around in his chair once more, looking out into the garden as Danielle stood on tip-toe to place a crown of flowers on Finny's head. Her smile was visible even from Ciel's viewpoint. He frowned, he'd never seen her smile like _that_ before.

"Damned girl,"

* * *

Kufufu~! Are you jealous, Ciel?

Sorry about how short this is.

Uh, yeah...yellow is the color of Friendship and caring. Finny and Danielle will NOT be together. This is a CielxOC not FinnyxOC.

I just think that a story isn't a story without conflict so the main conflict will be jealousy on Ciel's part and the inability to trust on Danielle's, remember this fanfiction is no where near over so they won't be getting together for a while. ^^

Review please?


	10. Chapter 10

Disclaimer: It's really a pity but I don't own Black Butler...

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Danielle and Finny walked inside, flowers adoring their hair and smiles lighting their faces. Okay, well Finny's smile was bright and pretty much blinding while Danielle's was hesitant and awkward. Her smile was as if, she were re-learning how to express her joy. Which, in all honesty, was a pretty accurate discription. Finny's smile was natural and contagious though. The more Danielle thought about it, the more she realized how completely opposite she was from the blonde. It was a shock to her that she was able to befriend her polar opposite.

"Danielle,"

That smooth, dark voice caused Danielle's blood to run cold, with a suddenly dry mouth Danielle turned to the person who voiced her name, "Yes, Sebastian-san?" Danielle asked flatly as her eyes locked away any signs of emotions. The demon smirked at her and kindly nodded toward the kitchen.

"Take up, Bocchan's requested tea please?" he asked politely. Danielle gave a stiff nod, trying to keep up her façade of apathy, "It's in the kitchen," he added which earned him another nod from the brunette.

"Oh, Finny…Bard was looking for you," Sebastian adds as he walks he other way.

Finny turned to Danielle, rubbing at the back of his neck, "Well I better go see what he wants," he says.

"And I better give Master Phantomhive his snacks," she replies. There's a moment of awkwardness before Finny smiles and gives a wave.

"See you later, Dannie," he calls over his shoulder. Danielle gives a nod before hurrying off to the kitchen and grabbing the silver tray that held Ciel's tea.

Within a few minutes Danielle's waiting in front of Ciel's study. With a sigh, she knocks on the heavy door and walks in at the brief order from Ciel.

"Here you go, Master Phantomhive," she said whilst simultaneously handing him a cup of tea.

"Why do you do this?" he asked after a sip. Danielle blinked owlishly.

"Do what?" she asked with false innocence. Ciel scowled at the cup in his hand for a brief moment.

"Blow up on me then come back and act like nothing happened…" he replied flatly. Danielle shifted her weight to her opposite foot.

"Well nothing gets solved by living in the past," she replied after a thoughtful pause. Ciel nodded and looked away from the girl.

"I suppose," he muttered before mumbling something incoherent into his hand.

"I'm sorry?" Danielle said having not caught his words. Ciel gave an irritated sigh as his face heated up awkwardly.

"I said, I apologize for threatening your job…and everything…" he mumbled, still not looking at her. Danielle smiled a little.

"It's alright, Master Phantomhive," she said.

Ciel turned to her and snapped, "But that doesn't mean I change my views!" he added. Danielle nodded, a smile playing at her lips. She really couldn't take him seriously when his cheeks were burning a pale pink.

"I know, I know," she managed before a small giggle escaped her.

"O-Oi! What are you laughing at!" he snapped. Danielle bowed slightly.

"I apologize," she said. When she stood upright she smiled at him, "I really do appreciate your apology, Master Phantomhive," she said slowly, rocking back on her heels.

"Tch, don't expect another one," he muttered. Danielle merely rolled her eyes in response before sighing.

"I wouldn't dream of it, sir," she quipped.

"Good," he said after a languid sip of his tea.

"Anyway, is there anything else you need?" she asked. Ciel shook his head and downed the rest of his tea.

"Nothing at all," he said resting the empty cup on the silver tray.

"Would you like anymore tea?" she asked. Ciel shook his head.

"No, thank-you," he said, eyes averted to a printed paper on his desk.

"Well then," she began, picking up the tray smoothly, "I'll be-"

"Please give this to Sebastian," Ciel said, hand extended with a piece of paper in his fingers. Danielle gave a curt nod and reached out for it with one hand.

Their fingers brushed during the exchange and Danielle swore her heart launched itself in her throat. The simple contact left her fingertips numb, like they were asleep. But it was a wonderful feeling. Ciel turned away, not wanting to show that he had felt it too.

"T-Thank-you, Master Phantomhive," Danielle said, striding to the door with a sudden urgency to be alone with her thoughts.

As the cherry wood thing shut behind her Danielle frowned. What was that? At their contact she had gotten a sudden bout of nervousness, her fingertips tingled and Danielle's frown deepened. Her thoughts swirled to the first day she had seen Ciel Phantomhive. She bit at the inside her lip as she remembered the way her feeble heart had soared when she was met with the mere sight of him. With a sigh of exasperation, she shook her head. No, this was nothing special. It was nothing like the books she read, it was no fairytale. Her life had never been anything close to a fairytale and there was absolutely no way she was going to believe that this twist of fate was going to change the story of her life. There was a logical reason to this and that was what she was sticking to: She must have just imagined it.

She nodded to herself as she made her way to the kitchen to drop off the tray and search for Sebastian.

It was all in her imagination and that was that and nothing more.

* * *

Okay, sorry for the short chappie and the wait.

School's being a pain...really, it is.

I have to write some retarded speech for my English class which is total insanity.

I really don't want to do it for two reasons.

1. I have nothing to talk about.

2. Public Speaking isn't my favorite thing to do.

I used to be absolutely terrible at public speaking but I've completely gotten over the whole panic attack phase...but that doesn't mean I enjoy it.

Eh, I think that's all...

Oh! Sorry for the suckishness of this chapter. I know it's boring. I know. Believe me.

Anyway, until next time...REVIEW~!


	11. Chapter 11

**Disclaimer: I don't own Black Butler, otherwise this wouldn't be on Fanfiction.**

* * *

The next morning was rather uneventful except for the fact that Meirin and Danielle collided in the kitchen, dropping trays of food everywhere. It was funny for a second before they realized they had to clean up the mess. Finny helped to make things easier though and after the damage was fixed he and Danielle went outside to tend to the roses again.

Weeks went by, strange things like a Prince and his butler coming to stay and a curry competition occurred during that time. Danielle became accustomed to weird things going on as she continued to live in the Phantomhive household.

For once in her life, Danielle began to make friends. The brunette was beginning to find solace in her conversations with Finny. Even with Bard and Meirin. Also, oddly enough, her interactions with Ciel began to make her smile. She began to become amused by teasing him every now and then, much to his annoyance.

She also began to forget…her past. Her dirty little secret stayed hidden at lock and key inside her heart and mind. But the thought always lingered at the back of her mind, the thought that Sebastian already knew her secrets.

Whenever she pondered on that thought too long though, someone always came up and made her forget. Finny would come up and talk up a storm, all while lifting her spirits with his mere presence. Or Meirin would come up begging for help cleaning or fixing this or that. Or she'd pass by Ciel and they'd argue about something trivial. Then she'd think about it and realize she'd forgotten what they were fighting about.

One particular afternoon, Danielle was on her way to deliver scones to said earl. Unbeknownst to her, he was getting up to leave his study when she was walking to the door. So she pulled the door open right as he leaned forward to do so himself. Which caused them to collide foreheads and fall. Ultimately resulting in a spilled plate of scones and a very awkward position.

Danielle lay on her back, skirts ridden up somewhere at her thighs, while Ciel had caught himself on his hands and knees hovering over her. Each of his knee rested on the side of her hips and his hands were beside her face. Both earl and maid stared into each other's wide eyes, blushes slowly creeping over their faces as they realized how they'd fallen.

"D-Dannie!"

Danielle's head snapped to the side, where the voice came from.

"Finny!" she said, raising her head and colliding with Ciel once more.

"OW!" he hissed, sitting up and unconsciously straddling the poor girl while Finny blushed from the end of the hall.

In the moment that Ciel had bolted into a sitting position on top of her, a memory flashed through Danielle's head. And in the next second Ciel was pushed into the wall behind him, having been kicked off by Danielle. Ciel stared wide-eyed at her sudden anger, too shocked to register the pain in his lower back.

"D-Dannie…" Finny rushed to the girl, face still pink, and attempted to help her up but his hand was slapped away.

"Don't touch me!" she half shouted. But then her hand clamped over her mouth as she realized her outburst. In the next moment she pushed past Finny and bolted straight down the hall.

She didn't stop running until she was in the safety of her room and then…she started crying.

Memories flashed behind her closed eyelids. Being pinned down to a bed to be straddled by a man that smelt like beer and dirt. She clenched her fists, nails biting into her palms as she was flooded with a sudden anger.

__

Knock knock

Danielle stiffened from her place next to the doorway.

Sigh. "I don't like to do this…but I would like to know the reason for your reaction," Ciel began tentatively, "I mean…I, I'm sorry. It was an accident. I didn't mean for…to land in….for us to…" he trailed off, not knowing how to phrase his words right.

"Master Phantomhive," came the broken whisper.

"Yes?"

"…go away."

…..

Ciel scowled from the other side of the door, who was she to tell him what to do?

But then he heard her gasp in a breath, crying. He pulled a hand through his hair and sighed.

"Stop that," he said through the door, the gently crying refused to cease, "Stop crying, it's an order!"

…

Leave it to Ciel to try to comfort a girl that way.

Danielle gave a breathy laugh through her tears which Ciel somehow heard, "It doesn't work that way, Master Phantomhive," she replied causing Ciel to blush profusely.

"I'm just trying to help!" he snapped. Danielle smiled slowly from the other side of the door.

"I know," she paused for a moment before scooting her pride to the back of her head and adding, "Thank-you,"

And with that, Ciel Phantomhive walked away.

* * *

Sorry for the wait, school is...evil.

I'll try to make my updates more frequent.

Shoot-darn, I probably should get back to my hw now...I've been procrastinating by writing this and re-watching season 1 of -Man.

Well, review~!


	12. Chapter 12

**Disclaimer: I don't own Black Butler...I really want to though.**

* * *

The rest of the day rolled on by, with Danielle no where in sight. The brunette kept herself locked in her room the rest of the day, alone with her thoughts. She needed time to think, to recover from the flashbacks that had returned with vengeance, making her relive her worst days. Her past. She was tormented by visions of all the pain she endured during that time...her destroyed youth, her innocence that was left in tatters, her dirtied soul...

She desperately tried to find some remnant of her innocence to cling to but she found nothing but defiled silk.

Maybe she was just condemning herself for her father's selfish ways...maybe.

She knows she had no power against it, God knows how hard she fought...but she couldn't help but thinking that she could've tried harder and that maybe if she did, she wouldn't be so filthy.

As she fell asleep that night she dreamt of a past with a living mother and a doting father, who even after the mother died, never changed.

But, alas, it was only a dream...which was something she realized when she woke up.

...

Ciel honestly did not expect to see her at all for a good two days.

But the very next morning Ciel found her walking alongside Finny who was talking animatedly with an enthusiastic smile while Danielle nodded, politely.

Then their eyes met and Danielle smiled to him, a small smile that she tried hard to make and with that soft smile she proceeded to speak, "Good Morning, Master Phantomhive,"

Finny had followed suit right after her and Ciel gave nothing more than a curt nod. Finny then turned to Danielle with a confused expression as Ciel disappeared up the stairs, "Dannie, do you know why Ciel's so upset?"

She paused, her eyebrows knitted together she briefly considered shrugging it off and walking down to the garden with the blonde as she had planned. But it nagged at her mind and she dismissed that idea altogether. She worried though, would she be over stepping the line between master and servant?

Maybe she should just leave him be. She conflicted with herself over the matter for a moment but only for a moment, "No, I don't…but I would like to find out. Excuse me, Finny," she finished, determination lighting in her eyes.

"E-Eh? Dannie! I don't think that's such a good idea…" but his words went on deaf ears as the maid hurried up the stairs.

"What's she up to?" Bard asked, appearing out of no where from behind Finny causing him to shriek briefly in surprise before settling back down.

"I…I'm not quite sure," he said slowly, green eyes locked on the stairs in front of him where his dear friend had run off only moments before.

The brunette scampered to the door before raising her hand to knock. She again paused momentarily before she set her lips in a thin line and knocked.

"Come in," came Ciel's unpleasant call.

Danielle then waltzed into the room, closing the door behind her, blissfully unaware of the heated glare Ciel sent her way. When the maid did catch sight of that heated glare she faltered for only a second before smiling at him.

The action ultimately caused Ciel to drop his face into his hand and groan lowly, "_What?" _he drawled, looking up at her from between his fingers.

"Oh, nothing," she chirped, but then she let her eyes meet his and her brown orbs softened a bit, "I take that back, I wanted to say thank-you for trying to help yesterday…" Ciel averted his eyes.

"Think nothing of it," he replied quickly. Danielle could only do her best to suppress a giggle at his blushing face, "Is that all?" the earl asked irritably.

"Well, no," the petite girl answered.

Ciel rose a brow at her, staring at her stoically-though his cheeks were still pink-before sighing, "What is it, then?"

Danielle rocked back and forth on her heels slowly, "Hmm…well, I wanted to know why you were so cold to Finny and I earlier. Is something bothering you?" she asked, tilting her head slightly.

Ciel stiffened for a moment before shrugging, "Nothing," he lied.

To his surprise, Danielle saw through his fib and stood there with raised eye brows.

The two continued their staring contest before Ciel finally caved and frowned at her, "I just didn't enjoy seeing you upset yesterday," Danielle's eyes widened impossibly, "And then today it just irked me that I couldn't get you to smile but he, Finnian, was able to without the slightest effort," Ciel stopped himself from continuing his rant at that point and with obvious hesitance he turned to Danielle.

When he did he found that she was smiling at him, "Thank-you for caring, Master Phantomhive. I'm glad you took my advise on the whole I'm a person not a pawn thing…"

Ciel opened his mouth to retort but was stopped by her small laugh. Now he had something different to bicker with her about, "H-Hey! Why are you laughing?" he demanded.

Danielle met his eyes and grinned, "You're kinda cute when you're jealous, Master Phantomhive,"

He certainly hoped that the way his face heated and his heart lurched to his throat meant absolutely nothing.

"Aw~! You look cute when you're embarrassed too~!"

"Sh-Shut up! Don't you have work to do?"

* * *

Thanks for being so patient guys and once again, sorry for how short this chapter is.

Again, I lost my train of thought somewhere in the middle and bam! Short chapter.

I guess that's just how I am, huh?

Well, I hope you enjoyed the chapter~!

Reviews make me update faster!

Ciao, Ciao~!


	13. Chapter 13

**Disclaimer: It's really a pity but I don't own Black Butler...**

* * *

Danielle found herself fit with helping Finny in the garden once more, she rather be outside than inside being her main reason. Another reason was that she still found comfort in Finny's company.

"Did you find out what was wrong with the young master?" Finny questioned. Danielle gave a slight shrug, pausing in her watering the plants.

"Well, maybe…he won't really open up to be but I think I'm getting him to," she replied with a slight smile. Finny grinned.

"Really? That's great!"

Danielle nodded at him, "He's like me so I guess that's why it's so easy for me to get him to talk,"

Finny looked genuinely surprised, raising his eyebrows as he asked, "Really? How do you figure?"

The young girl found herself shrugging again, "I…," she shifted her weight, "I'm not really sure actually, I just feel like I understand him," she explained as best she could.

Finny gave a nod to her, "I kinda understand, I think," he said giving a nervous laugh.

Danielle looked up to the clouded, graying sky and frowned, "Hmm, I think we should probably get inside," she said turning to look over her shoulder at her companion.

Finny was already standing up and dusting off his pants, "I agree, let's hurry…" he paused to rub the back of his neck, "We probably didn't need to water those did we?" he said sheepishly, gesturing to the roses.

"Eh, well we can't do anything about it now,"

"You're right, c'mon," Finny said, grasping her hand and racing to the mansion. Danielle sputtered and blushed at the contact, yelling about nonsense while Finny just grinned.

Once inside the mansion Finny turned to her and said something about looking for Bard before leaving.

Which led Danielle to where she was now, walking to Ciel's study with nothing to do. (Okay, maybe she could go clean something or do whatever maids were supposed to but that just wasn't as fun)

Upon pushing up the doors to the study she caught an interesting sight. There was Ciel, dancing around the room…or at least trying to with an imaginary partner. Danielle found that her hands flew to her mouth to stifle her laughter while Ciel turned to her blushing darker than she'd ever seen anyone blush whilst gaping like a fish as he tried to form words.

The best the young earl could come up with?

"This isn't what it looks like!"

"O-Oh?" Danielle asked, stuttering only because of her giggles, "What is it then, Master Phantomhive? Because it _looked_ like you were practicing your dance skills,"

"I was no-" Danielle gave him a skeptical look and Ciel paused as he tried to think of some sort of excuse, "I was…there's a ball coming up, one I must attend and I was making sure I knew how to dance...well,"

Danielle blinked in surprise, "A ball?" she asked, unsure about whether or not he was lying.

Ciel nodded, "A very important ally of mine in my business is throwing a rather extravagant party for his anniversary," he clarified. It was true. But he didn't even know if he was going to attend, in all honesty he was only practicing how to dance because he was bored. He should've saved himself the embarrassment though, look where his practice lead him...

"Oh that's right, you run a business in your spare time," Danielle remarked. Ciel gave a light roll of his eyes.

"Anyway, what are you doing here?" Ciel asked slowly.

The brunette waved her hand, "No idea," she admitted, "I have nothing better to do," Ciel opened his mouth to tell her about chores but she continued on before he had the chance, "Well, nothing as much fun as bothering my master," she said.

Ciel frowned at that, she wasn't very lady-like he realized. Danielle smiled then, "Plus~ It seems your in need of my assistance, Master Phantomhive,"

"With?" Ciel asked, raising a brow at her words. As she walked up to him, Ciel noticed that she was an inch or so shorter than he. Danielle walked over to him and taking a breath she took Ciel's hand in hers and placed it on her waist.

It took a lot of focus for her to be okay with contact from a male she found. But the feel of Ciel's hand at her waist didn't make her prickle with disgust, no it was quite….nice. The tingling it brought was pleasurable she found as she took the blushing boy's other hand in hers before placing her free hand on his shoulder.

"Ready?" she asked. Ciel was blushing like an idiot but he somehow managed to nod.

Danielle nodded at him to take lead and Ciel lost nerve suddenly, his grip on her hand loosened and he stepped back to pull away, "T-This is stupid!" he muttered.

The girl just tilted her head and pursed her lips, "I don't think so,"

"I do!" Ciel snapped, pulling away.

Both adolescents found they missed the contact as soon as Ciel broke it.

"Well, fine…have fun dancing by yourself," Danielle murmured, turning to leave. But she stopped halfway before her hand met the handle, "Sorry if I overstepped a boundary, Master Phantomhive," she said apologetically before walking out of the room and down the hall.

She always overstepped the line between servant and master, only recently had it become hobby of hers to walk on it like a tightrope. But as the door closed Ciel was overcome with a sudden realization, he didn't mind it.

* * *

Ugh, bleh sorry peoples.

I do not like this chapter at all.

It's just so boooooring.

I have an idea for a new "Arc", yeah sorry bout botching the whole 'follow with the anime' plan. I will get back to it. But there's going to be this other arc in between the "Angela Arc"? idk i haven't even watched Kuroshitsuji in forever. Sorry.

Once again, sorry about the crap factor of this chapter. (ACCIDENTAL RHYME, CALLED IT!)

Anyway, thanks for sticking with this story :)

Review please~! ^^


	14. Chapter 14

**Disclaimer: I only own Danielle, the rest belong to Yana Toboso.**_

* * *

_

The next day wasn't much different, except for the fact that Danielle didn't pester Ciel when she helped serve his breakfast like she normally did. She seemed rather determined to be a good servant girl which was even more exasperating to Ciel because, _God_, she looked so stupidly adorable with that look on her face…wait what?

Ciel rewound his thoughts and with the sudden epiphany of what he thought fell upon him he dropped his fork on his plate and barely stifled a shriek of surprise 'cause you know…frankly, refined people like him don't shriek like little girls. Ever.

Anyway back to his almost shriek-fork dropping dilemma. To his dismay Danielle noticed his choking strangled sound and turned to him, frowning slightly, "You okay? You sound like a cat trying to hack up a hairball or something…" she quips.

Ciel blushes and turns to the young girl with a glare, "What kind of question is that! A good maid would be worried!"

Danielle pouts, "Don't use such derogatory terms with me,"

Ciel blanches, "Don't tell me what to do! _Who _owns _who?_"

It was the brunette's turn to blanch, "Owns? You don't own me, Master Phantomhive!"

"HA! You admitted it! You just called me master!"

"I-…ah, touché. Well played, Master Phantomhive, well played, indeed," she nods, clapping her hands lightly.

"Hmph,"

Ciel unceremoniously stuffed his mouth with food in an attempt to shut himself up, he was starting to act like an idiot.

Somehow, it was Danielle's fault, of that he was sure.

Sebastian can only sigh at the rather...well, odd scene that played out before him.

Well, at least they were getting closer, Sebastian thought with a tiny smirk playing at his pallid lips.

**~-~-oooohhh line thingy-~-~**

It's not even lunch before a surprise knocks at the door.

What kind of surprise you ask?

Oh the blonde overly cheery, hella annoying, and secretly evil kind!

"CIEL~!"

Said boy is currently being smothered by a certain blondie.

Stupid Blondie.

She had attacked only moments before. Having caught her by surprise, coming up behind her and tackling her somehow managing to pin a black kitten tail to the back of her dress and matching kitty hears on her head.

Now, Danielle found herself irritably grumbling to herself, next to Finny who head adorned pink, fuzzy bunny ears that-she found-suited him a little too well.

"Hello, Elizabeth," Ciel managed though his voice was muffled by her shoulder.

"It's Lizzy~!" the girl whined causing Danielle to mimic her in a hushed whisper.

Both her and Finny snickered lowly but not lowly enough because Ciel's head snapped to the both of them with a sharp glare that caused the pair to shrink back suddenly.

**-later on-**

"Huh, a dance party?"

It's all the young girl can do, not to break out in a fit of giggles when an image of the dance-practicing Ciel flits through her mind.

Meirin nodded, "Sebastian said it's mainly for Ciel and Elizabeth…maybe the young master wishes to dance with her. Or vise-versa…"

Danielle blinks, not liking the way her heart clenches suddenly.

"Oh, I see…well that would make sense, I guess…" she replies dumbly. Meirin nods.

"We're to be there also, for help I suppose,"

"Ah, I see.."

An awkward silence washes over the two before a shriek rings through the room and both maids jump, staring in horror at the approaching menace.

____

1, 2, 3...

Cue scream.

**_~wonderful time-skip~_**

By 6 they are gathered for the party, Paula's there too doing her job of babysitting Elizabeth. Danielle tugs at the choker the blonde somehow managed to attach to her neck, it's thick, black with red-stitching and a gold bell. Her kitten ears are still pinned to her head and matching tail to her bottom. Her apron was changed for one that was a heart shape and deep red. Her hair was curled hastily by Elizabeth's twisting and her bangs were pulled loosely from her face in a half-up, half-down style with a red satin ribbon. In addition, black and red lace trimmed cuffs were added to each of her wrists. Ultimately she looked like a little kitty-maid which made the brunette blush darkly, how embarrassing.

Bard was dressed as a school girl which was highly, highly, amusing for everyone.

Tanaka…was wearing a wig…and laughing…

…

Yeah, not very interesting, hmm.

Oh, and the dancing Ciel and Elizabeth was definitely not interesting either. Nope, not at all, especially not to a certain little maid.

Danielle turned to Finny, meaning to ask him something irrelevant but found herself snickering at his outfit which caused the male to blush and whine.

"Dannie~! Don't make fun of me, it doesn't make me feel ay better!" he complained with a pout.

"Sorry, sorry, I just meant to ask you…" what was she going to ask again?

Shoot, now Finny was raising his eyebrow at the unspoken question.

Danielle paused before sheepishly offering, "Want to dance?"

At that Finny grinned widely, slipping off the bunny glove-things and grasping her hand.

Danielle gave a small smile as he swept her into a dance to the tune of Sebastian's violin. She noticed it then, how warm Finny's hands were.

It wasn't long before somehow partners were switched and Finny ended up with Elizabeth in his arms.

Ciel looked down at a confused Danielle, who had magically stumbled in front of him.

Seriously, how had this happened?

_(A/N: Nope, don't ask me…I don't know either. It just did. Why? 'Cause I said so.)_

"Hello, Master Phantomhive," she said, straightening up. Ciel smirked slowly as his eyes took in her clothing which only succeeded in Danielle mimicking a sputtering tomato.

"Well, as long as this is going on…would you care to dance?" Ciel asked politely that sexy smirk still pulling at his lips.

In her embarrassment, Danielle's sharp tongue got the better of her, "Tch, I thought you didn't want to dance with me? I thought it was stupid…"

At her curt remark, Ciel twitched a bit. But he forced himself to calm down and not let him vex her as she always managed to, "Well then, let me make it up to you,"

And there she went blushing madly again, her throat dry and her comebacks suddenly gone as her mind went blank, "I…uh, what if I don't want to?" she said lamely.

Ciel's smirk came back full force, "Don't even bother lying,"

With those words he took her into his arms, surprising her as he showed he really _could_ dance.

Finny; however, was in quite a different situation…you see, Elizabeth was fuming. Though one couldn't really tell because she had this beautiful albeit fake smile on her face. But if you looked closely you could see the fury flashing in her emerald eyes.

All this was making the young gardener rather uncomfortable.

"D-Dannie~" Finny whispered. He was forced to call several more times before she finally snapped her eyes from Ciel's and looked toward him.

He mouthed a desperate 'help me' to the girl. She gave a side-ways glance to the blonde and shuddered at the horrible aura that surrounded her. Then Danielle nodded in understanding, carefully slipping her hand from Ciel's shoulder. The earl slowed in his movements and rose a questioning brow.

"What is it?"

"I have to go back to Finny before your fiancée strangles him in a blind fit of rage," she replied dully.

Ciel only blinked, staring at her with an expression that read _'My precious, lovely, innocent Elizabeth? Impossible!'_

To this Danielle heaved a sigh and detached herself from Ciel's arms, "Anyway, this is supposed to be highly inappropriate…right?" she asked, looking up at him with a slight scowl. Ciel decided at that point that he did not at all like the unsettling feeling those words brought him.

Ciel shrugged, "Do I really seem like one to follow menial rules like that?" he asked, subconsciously toying with the patch that covered his eye.

Danielle almost smirked, "I guess not…"

Then, with a turn of her heel, she left and walked back to Finny who instantly released Elizabeth.

Ciel barely registered that he held a gaily shrieking Elizabeth in his arms, mostly because his eyes were otherwise preoccupied.

He was too busy watching Danielle get pulled into Finny's arms, lifted off the ground only to be spun about as the male cried with relief leaving the girl to pat his back and laugh.

With a frown he realized something else he did not like, Danielle being held by someone else.

Throughout this whole festivity, Sebastian had watched on with interest.

It seemed his bocchan was having some rather,_ conflicting _feelings, hmm?

* * *

Oh, God...that sucked.

Sorry, I need more fillers before the plot actually comes into play.

Blargh, I suck at filler!

Forgive me, dear readers...I beg you!

I really hope you'll stick with this story so you can see it get better ^^

I'm sorry about this chapters, boring-ness?

GAH! I NEED PLOT BUNNIES!

TT~TT

Review, please?

Also, if you have an idea for a filler chappie, feel free to share it. There will be at least 2 more filler chapters before the (Kinda Spoiler) _The Past Returns_ Arc.

So, yeah PM me any filler ideas or share them in a lovely little review :)

See you next chappie! Ciao~!


	15. Chapter 15

**Disclaimer: I don't own Black Butler, never have...maybe will. *sneaky eyes***

* * *

Elizabeth had stayed the night. Which meant she was there in the morning to trap them all.

Which means that everyone (minus Sebastian and Meirin who escaped miraculously) was dressed up in frilly over-done costumes courtesy of the blonde.

Danielle's uniform was swapped for a black dress that was fitted till her waist with red buttons that descended from her frilled collar. Once it hit her waist the dress poofed outward at her knees in black and red frills of lace. The sleeves billowed to her elbows with red stitching at the loose fabric there. Her usual white apron was replaced by a black and red striped one. Around her wrists were black satin cuffs edged with red lace. Her legs were covered by white tights and on her feet were her normal black boots. Those were the only this that hadn't been changed. Because her hair had also been done differently, it had been curled and separated into two low ponytails with red satin ribbon.

Elizabeth hadn't gotten out of her animal phase either because clipped in her dark brown locks were a pair of kitty ears and on her bottom was a matching black tail.

Oh, God, the poor girl couldn't wait until the blonde left.

The day only got worse when she walked downstairs and saw Finny.

Why?

Oh, because of _his _outfit.

He wore a plain white Victorian collared shirt, a red bow tie , a black vest with red buttons, black shorts that fell to his knees and red and black striped knee highs along with black lace-up boots. On top of that, he wore black kitty ears and a matching tail as well.

Danielle heaved a sigh, "We match, oh joy~"

Finny gave a nervous laugh right as a full-on princess Bard rounded the corner.

"Say anything and I'll kill you," he murmured right as both gardener and maid opened their mouths to laugh.

Needless to say, both teens shut up immediately.

When Danielle came up next to Sebastian during Ciel's breakfast, said earl choked on his own spit at the sight of the girl.

One, she was doing this on purpose or two, it was karma.

Either way…of one thing he was sure, the Lord was testing him.

I mean, why else would He so shamelessly wave his fetish in his face?

Danielle shuddered at the feel of someone's eyes on her back and she turned to find that it was Ciel's narrowed eyes that she felt. She turned to him with a piercing glare and the teen spun back around in his chair and blushed at his food.

"Anyway, I was informed that Lady Elizabeth and Paula are intending on leaving before noon. Paula wanted me to let you know," the brunette finished, Sebastian gave a nod in reply.

"Alright, thank-you,"

And of course Danielle was blissfully unaware of the certain noble who was gawking at her from behind his fork.

Elizabeth's departure was marked by Ciel's snack time. Which meant his goodbye to his fiancée had been brief and he was in his study as soon as the door closed behind her and Paula.

So, Danielle had no time to scout out her normal uniform and change before she was summoned to take up Ciel's snack.

She knocked at the cheery wood door, fidgeting in her dress, "Master Phantomhive?" she called a muffled 'come in' was her reply.

She opened the door to find Ciel sitting behind his desk as per usual, "Here's today's snack," she said placing a plate of cookies at his desk before stopping to pour him a cup of tea.

"Thank-you," Ciel mumbled as he took the cup from her.

"Mm," came her murmur of acknowledgment.

"Why are you still wearing that ridiculous outfit?" Ciel asked in exasperation, covering his visible eye with his hand so he couldn't see it.

The brunette frowned, "I had no time to change, sorry," she said with a roll of her eyes.

"No need for attitude," he muttered. Danielle turned to him with a glare as he just sipped his tea innocently.

"You shouldn't be telling me that," she quipped before sticking her tongue out at him.

"Oh, God…how old are you?"

The question only resulted in her sticking her tongue out at him again before turning to leave. But Ciel cleared his throat and Danielle looked over her shoulder at him.

"…You…you can stay if you want," he said hesitantly without thinking.

The girl merely blinked, had she heard him right?

"Uh, well…"

Ciel flashed a cookie between his fingers and Danielle's feet carried her to a chair at the side of the room that she grabbed then pulled to the side of Ciel's desk and sat down next to the earl before snatching the cookie from his grasp.

Ciel gave a rare chuckle and grabbed a cookie for himself.

After finishing off her cookie, in a very unladylike manner, Danielle wiped her hands on her apron and turned to the Phantomhive whilst getting to her knees on her chair, "I've been meaning to ask you, but why is it that you wear this?" her fingers traced his eye patch carefully as she spoke.

"Didn't I answer that question in the past?"

She shrugged, "Yeah but judging by the feel, you still have your eye…_Li~ar,"_

Ciel scowled at the pouting girl before him. Then with a sigh he spoke, "I truly don't see how it's any of your business,"

"It's not,"

"Then-"

"I'm just curious,"

Danielle's fingers reached up and threaded through his hair causing the male to gulp.

"I don't think that's a valid reas-"

Ciel was cut short by his eye patch falling from his face and to his lap but he wasn't shocked enough by the action to open his eye.

"What? Why won't you open your eye?" Danielle demanded. Ciel frowned.

"I rather not," Danielle made no move to back off, "You're stubborn aren't you?"

"I could say the same thing to you,"

Ciel gave a smirk, "Okay fine," with obvious reluctance Ciel blinked and opened both his eyes.

Ciel had honestly expected her to either yell something incoherent or to reel back in shock but she did neither.

No, she just leaned closer and tilted her head, her fingers brushing the skin around his eye which made the skin there tingle.

"Is this a mark of some sort?" she asked cautiously as she sat back on her legs.

Ciel gave a slow nod, "It's the mark of contract between Sebastian and I," he replied, reaching for his eye patch before realizing Sebastian usually put it on for him.

Being pampered all your life did have some disadvantages.

Danielle noticed this and motioned for him to spin his chair around which he did and she easily tied his eye patch back in place.

"Well, I told you a dark secret of mine…" Ciel began referencing his contract that he informed her of weeks ago. Turning back around, he continued, "Don't you think it'd be fair trade if…?"

"If I told you a secret of mine?" Danielle asked, looking up at him with her deep eyes.

"Mm, exactly,"

Danielle toyed with the frills of her costume, "I'm not sure, Master Phantomhive I mean,…can I trust you?" she asked with a sad tug of a smile.

Ciel paused because he really didn't know, "I would like to believe so," he replied tentatively.

Danielle stood up and began to collect the plates.

"Well if that's true maybe I'll tell you everything one day, but for right now…it's only one secret and that's…that I've never had a father,"

As the door closed behind her Ciel nearly pulled his hair out in exasperation because could she really get anymore vague!

Ciel let his head fall to the desk, what ever happened to her becoming his new plaything?

When did she stop being a pawn and becoming an actual person?

When did his motives change from 'solve the puzzle for entertainment' to 'understand her'?

When did she ferret her way into his heart?

When did he start to care so much?

When did his interest turn into near obsession?

When did these feelings develop?

In the lonesome of his study Ciel pondered on it all, but in the end he was no closer to solving the puzzle.

* * *

Oh my tap-dancing Christ, that chapter was so lame.

Agh~!

FORGIVE ME FOR BURNING YOUR EYES WITH THIS HORRIBLE-NESS!

*bows repeatedly*

I already wrote two more chapters but ugh, it just gets worse. I'm soooo sorry, forgive me please.

It might be a while till the next chappie because I really have to work on my writing skills cuz this fanfiction has been going downhill.

I'll try not to give up though, I really will...


	16. Chapter 16

**Disclaimer: I don't own Black Butler TT~TT**

* * *

Danielle was off doing her normal chores on this particular day. She had been harshly reprimanded by Sebastian for so constantly slacking off so now, she was actually being forced to work (much to her displeasure).

She had been in the middle of cleaning the bathroom when Meirin had come to tell her that Sebastian was in search of her.

Danielle found Sebastian in the dining room and he then informed her that the young master wished to speak to her and since she was going she was to also bring up his afternoon tea and snack.

Mentally complaining, she went to the kitchen and got the tray of food and drink before going up to deliver it to the awaiting Ciel.

When she had walked in to his study as she had done so very often she found that one thing was off. What exactly? Ciel was standing up, walking about his room, seemingly pacing.

"I've brought your snack and tea, Ma-" Ciel abruptly shut the door behind her, "…ster Phantomhive?"

Ciel shook his head, motioning for her to set down the tray at his desk as if to say 'I don't want it'. She followed his signaled orders with slight confusion and hesitance because Ciel _never_ backed down on an offer of tea, specially if Sebastian made it.

"This ring I wear is passed down through the men of my family, it's also seen all their deaths,"

Danielle whipped around, nearly dropping the tray to the desktop rather than place it there in her sudden surprise.

"What?"

"I don't like repeating myself, Danielle,"

Her surprise turned into shock at that moment.

"A-Are you alright? You just used my name!" she pointed an accusing finger at him before trying to push past him to the door, "I'll get Sebas-"

Ciel took her shoulders and grimaced, "I'm fine,"

"No, you're not," she stated, "I mean," she took a step back and looked him in the eye, "You're not acting like yourself…I noticed the improvement immediately~!" she sang, grinning. [1]

Ciel sighed, frowning at her slightly, "Look, I told you something about me, your turn,"

Danielle blinked, "I beg your pardon?"

He ran a hand through his hair, tugging at the strands before walking around the girl, "Just…tell me something, now. A fair trade, you know?" He looked over his shoulder at her and saw her to be smiling.

"A secret for a secret…" she murmured. He gave the slightest smile with a twist of his lips.

"Ah, now…it's your turn,"

"Hmm…well, I'm not sure I'd sell out so easily, Master Phantomhive," she remarked, walking so she was in front of him.

"Really? Why would that be, hmm?" he asked, his eyes taunting.

She gave the slightest smirk before asking the rhetorical question, "Can I trust you?"

Ciel rose a perfect brow, "I trust hardly no one. Yet, I find myself trusting you. If I can trust you, then I believe you can also trust me,"

Danielle paused and mulled over his words momentarily before finding them to be to her liking.

"A secret for a secret?"

Ciel nodded at her, "A fair trade."

"And bit by bit we'll solve each other's riddle?"

"Whatever gave it away?" he drawled sarcastically.

It was as obvious as the light of day that both maid and earl were intrigued by eachother's past. They were attracted by the secrets that they both hid and it was hard to hid that attraction, or even to force it away. Even harder to pretend it wasn't there. Sebastian, Ciel decided, had been right about Danielle being intriguing. He wouldn't be in this position if she wasn't as interesting a person as she was. Likewise for Danielle, Ciel was undoubtably male and she would have much rather stayed away from him on normal terms but it seemed to be impossible. Whenever she had free time she was in Ciel's office [2]. Sure, she hung out with Finny too but that was more of a choice...with Ciel, it seemed like necessity.

Danielle gave a short chuckle, "Well, this'll certainly take a while but…you got yourself a deal, Master Phantomhive,"

She stuck her hand out for him to take and he did so almost eagerly, taking it in a firm hold and giving a shake.

"Deal,"

A sudden silence engulfed the two as they seperated hands, staring into eachother's eyes searching for any sign of treachery.

Also, Ciel's bemused expression, befuddled the brunette enough to make her loose sight of the words she intended on speaking only a moment before.

The earl suddenly smirked down at her the amused glint in his eyes daring her to back down, but of course she felt no rue for the pact she had just made.

With the silence growing unbearable, Ciel finally spoke up.

"Well, Danielle…I do believe it's your turn,"

* * *

[1] I saw this on Criminally Insane Angel's profile thought it was funny and figured I'd include it.

[2] I wrote "-in Ciel's pants." like, five times before I actually got it right XDDDD'

* * *

Now, on to my actual Author's Note.

Firstly, I have to say THANK-YOU~! to all my wonderful reviewers. I love you all~!

*showers all reviewers with cookies and the like*

Secondly, sorry for the shortness of the chapter. I tried to make it longer, I really did but it just wasn't going to get any longer than it is.

Thirdly, I think I said 2 more filler chappies till my action-packed/super dramatic arc...well I did. But it's not going to happen. I don't really think these next chapters are filler though, they're more...building up to the plot. Yeah, sorry bout that.

Fourthly, I hope you enjoyed the chapter and I hope you all review.

Please, please review. I get super pumped when I see that people review, seriously you guys don't understand my happiness when I see I gots me some nice reviewers. (Holy crap that sounded so effing creepy, please ignore that~!)

Anyway, bottomline...REVIEW~!


	17. Chapter 17

**Disclaimer: I don't own Kuroshitsuji/Black Butler**

* * *

"Hmm…I tried on a pair of the neighbor boy's shorts once, my mother scolded me about how scandalous that was and I got hit pretty hard. Ha, she was so embarrassed though," Danielle remarked as she sat in a nearby cushioned chair.

Ciel let his face fall into his open hand, "Be serious about this, please,"

"Well, you never gave any restrictions on the secrets now did you, Master Phantomhive?"

Ciel groaned lightly, he really hadn't thought she'd be this sly with him. So with that he paused before finally announcing, "Then, there's a change of game,"

Danielle frowned, her plan she'd cunningly devised had backfired, "What?"

Ciel smirked down at her, "Either play right or the game changes to a simple Question and Answer and that will be even more revealing," he chided, cursing himself for not starting off that way.

Danielle grimaced, a Question and Answer would make solving Ciel so much simpler! She could ask the questions that had been so constantly prodding at her mind! She could pry into his past and finally understand him! She could-

She stopped her thoughts when she was overcome by a feeling of dread as she realized that if she could do that to him...it'd also work vise versa.

He could dig through her darkest secrets and push through the flilth to uncover her tainted past.

This game could help him figure her out, this simple children's game could let him know _everything_.

Was it really worth the risk?

She pondered this whilst gnawing on her lip and Ciel merely leaned back to sit upon his desk casually. He could slide around evasive questions with ease, he'd become an expert over the years.

"Fine,"

"Hmm?" Ciel arched a brow in her direction.

"I'll do the Question and Answer,"

"You will?" he asked, a smirk stretching across his face.

She nodded, drawing her legs to her chest and resting her chin on her knees, "I'll take the risk…as long as nothing leaves this room,"

Ciel nodded in reply, "Nothing will leave this room, we already went over the trust issue,"

Danielle paused, "Here's that secret I "owe" you, I have trust issues…as in, I find it really hard to trust anyone…because of my past…I can't even-" her arms wrapped around her shins tightly, her voice barely a whisper as she spoke, "I can't even….trust Finny,"

Ciel scowled, irritation sparking in his eyes because was it really necessary to mention the gardener? Really?

"Ah," he strained for words but found none to say.

Danielle broke the silence turning to eye him curiously, "Hmm, it's my turn now, right?" Ciel gave a slow nod and Danielle smiled slightly," Well let me think, hmm…oh! Were you really kidnapped after your parents' death?"

Danielle was curious seeing as how he had lied to her about his covered eye. She just wanted to know if he had spoken any truth that day. Ciel's fists clenched against the wood of his desk, "Yes,"

"By-"

Ciel cut her off with a swift, "One question per turn,"

Danielle frowned stubbornly at the rule, pressing her face into her knees.

"Now, what'd you run away from that lead you to the streets, then to Elizabeth?" Ciel questioned.

Danielle's eyes darkened, "Hell,"

It truly was Hell. Having your innocence stolen from you by greedy hands wasn't exactly a pleasant experience and knowing it was the cause of your own father's greed made it so much worse. Hell was the only word she could think of that would properly summarize it because it was nothing close to a home.

Ciel noticed her pause and pressed his lips together not liking her change in aura.

"Who kidnapped you?" she asked him, finally.

"A cult, a sick, vile cult,"

Danielle blinked, her next question already forming.

"Describe Hell,"

That made her entire body go rigid…"W-What do you mean?"

"You said you ran away from Hell, what was Hell like?"

Her knees were drawn tighter to her chest, "Painful, dirty, and…lonesome. I was always alone, even if there were people beside me…I was alone,"

Ciel paused, finding her description to be one that he would have made if asked to describe his own dark past. In fact, he was pretty sure he even said those words to himself whilst he was reminicing.

"My turn," Danielle said, trying to sound lighthearted but failing because her eyes told a different story than her smile.

Ciel gave a nod despite that, urging her on because he didn't like that sad look on her face. It just didn't fit her.

"Why do you say the cult was sick and vile?"

Ciel gave a morbid chuckle, "What they did was what made them so, at such a fragile age…they took my youth from me. Everything that classified me as a pure child was stolen,"

"I wish you'd be less vague, Master Phantomhive,"

He smirked at that, "Same for you, Danielle,"

She gave a halfhearted roll of her eyes.

"Now, what happened to your parents?"

Danielle blinked at the randomness of the question but only for a moment before she answered, "You know already, my mother took her own life…and I've never had a father,"

"Ah," he sighed, his next question would be on that missing male.

"Anyway, what did they steal that took away your youth?" Danielle asked. Ciel furrowed his eyebrows.

"I already said that…" he averted his eyes from hers and looked to the ceiling, "My purity,"

She begged him to be more specific and he shot her with a glare.

"My innocence, Danielle,"

She blanched, "That's what the puppet was going on about! Impurity! I thought she was-" and she stopped her rambling voice with her hand.

Ciel's eyes darted to hers, surprise evident in every feature of his face, "Finish that sentence,"

Danielle started to shake her head but Ciel merely smirked, "My turn,"

Then she forced her stomach to calm and nervously fidgeted, lowering her legs to the floor, "When the puppet had ranted about impurity…I had thought she was talking about…" she considered a lie but thought against it. There was no way to save herself now, "…me,"

"Why would you-"

Danielle rose a finger and shook it, "One question per turn….right, Ciel?" she asked teasingly. Though her voice gave a teasing tone, it trembled a bit and her eyes refused to meet his. She was _nervous_.

But Ciel was to preoccupied to take notice.

Ciel's face heated awkwardly at the use of his first name and his own urgency to know more about her.

He had lost all composure in that second and had nearly jumped at her in his urgency to know more. Was he that desperate to figure her out? No case he's ever solved has made him act so strangely. For him to just snap out a question without a thought was outlandish. He always thought before he spoke, always. He wasn't like Danielle who rarely looked before she leaped. Oh-no he was far too mature to do something so idiotic as that. He couldn't afford mistakes.

But that was before he met her. That was before his smile got just a little more real. That was before he remembered how fun it was to talk to others. That was before he remembered what it was like to have someone to talk to. A friend.

Was that what he considered her now? A friend? Whatever happened to her pawn status?

Ciel shook his head, he'd have time to immerse himself in his thoughts later because now he was so close to figuring out this puzzle, to coming to an understanding of _the_ Danielle Williams. He mentally smirked, sure that once he finished this game he'd solve the riddle and win the prize. He fought against the smile that wanted to stretch across his face and setteled for a slightly bemused expression and as he did so he could vaguely hear someone speaking in the background.

Danielle cleared her throat, "Erm, Master Phantomhive?"

Ciel's expression faded and he frowned. He didn't like that name as much as Ciel. He blushed at that and shook his head.

"Ah, yeah sorry...what was it you just said?

"My question to you is…about your past, is that why you shield yourself from others? I mean, the whole...innocence thing. Is that why you don't let anyone touch you?" she asked, looking up to meet his eyes tentatively. She was scared he'd see her own feelings but she needed to meet his eyes. She needed to see the truth because chances were he wouldn't say it.

Ciel scowled, wiping at an imaginary spot on his shorts, "Probably…I'm not sure,"

Danielle gave a nod even though it hadn't been the answer she wanted to hear, not that it was a lie. But because it wasn't as direct as she had been hoping. She knew Ciel cared too much about his pride to say the truth but his eyes spoke his story...and, that was enough for her.

"Now," he intently stared her down, "Why would you have thought that the thing would have been talking about you?"

Before she could open her mouth to answer-Sebastian opened the door to the study, readying to announce lunch. But the moment his red eyes scanned the room his eyebrows rose in surprise.

"Oh, sorry bocchan~"

"Sebastian you have superb timing…" Ciel commented, eyes narrowed to dangerous slits and voice dripping with sarcasm.

Danielle simply laughed in relief because she was safe, her and her secrets were still safe.

Even if were for but a moment.

* * *

Arghbark, this did _**Not**_ turn out the way I wanted it to.

I'm sorry about how much this sucks *bows* please for give me.

I might re-write this over again because I really don't like the turnout. But if you all liked it, tell me in a review and I'll just move on and get started on the next chapter. (Hopefully to be posted next week)

Bottomline is please, please review.

Thank-you and see you again desu~


	18. Chapter 18

**Disclaimer: I don't own Black Butler but I want to.**

* * *

The next day she avoided Ciel and his office along with Sebastian who always seemed to give her chores that would involve contact with Ciel. Naturally, Danielle stuck herself with the tasks of helping Finny outside and Meirin indoors. She continued this little regimen for 3 days until a certain earl decided he'd had enough.

By that it means Ciel confronted Danielle while she was rushing up the steps to go to upstairs bathroom to help Meirin clean.

By confronting her he simply ordered to hurry and clean the bathroom then meet him in his study.

So, Danielle spent as long cleaning the bathroom as she possibly could, her gut filled with a sense of dread.

She also took her time putting the cleaning things back in their proper place and walked at a turtle's pace to Ciel's office.

Upon opening the door she was confronted instantly by a Ciel. One who leaned over her to close the door behind her body, caging her in between the door and his frame.

She blushed but managed to glare up at him. Ciel grimaced at her failed attempt at intimidating him and flicked her forehead.

"Nice fluffy bunny glare," he remarked, smirking slightly. Danielle scowled at the comment and requested to leave to which Ciel shook his head.

"I have a few inquiries to make,"

Danielle's stomach dropped and her bottom lip quivered as she took a shaky breath.

"Bout what?" she asked with a halfhearted smile.

Ciel's stare hardened, "Don't toy with me,"

Danielle glared back then with full menace, "Stop playing this game then!"

"Just tell me why I'm not worthy of your trust!" Ciel demanded, losing his normal sternness in the order.

Danielle paused then, her voice dropping, "What?"

A deep breath, "Just, please, tell me why you can't trust me,"

Danielle was speechless. For once, she just stood staring blankly up at the teen who was leaning over her and as he backed away from her body her eyes followed his movements.

Ciel slouched, his eyes narrowed to the floor as he folded his hands over his chest, "It's not that I care or anything," he blushed and shifted his weight, dropping his arms to his sides and opting to run a hand through his hair, "I just want to know,"

Danielle shook her head and opened her mouth to speak but Ciel continued his embarrassed rambling.

"I mean, never mind. How do I earn your trust? Oh, never mind that sounds idiotic. I shouldn't have bothered with all of this…wait no…I want the answer. Tell me, it's an order,"

To say her short laugh surprised him would have been an understatement.

He stared at her with his face rapidly heating while she stepped toward him slowly, "It's not that I don't trust you, Master Phantomhive," she began, "I just…I'm afraid,"

He almost rolled his eyes, almost.

"Of what?"

"Of-"

"Nothing you say can be worst than what I've gone through so you shouldn't be worried about it being too much,"

"Well, actually-"

"Just do-"

"Pardon me, Master Phantomhive, but could you kindly shut up?"

He did.

"I…well I might as well tell you the whole story, want to sit down…it's kinda long,"

So they both sat, Ciel behind his desk and Danielle on the chair in front of it with her legs drawn to her chest. She decided to spare him the gory details and gave a short, almost vague account of her life before the Phantomhive household took her in.

"To start off…my mother took her own life for some reason I still don't know. That event started a domino effect with my family. Everyone spoke less and kept to themselves. My, well I guess you could call him my _father_, became an alcoholic. He had been extremely depressed but I never expected him to go that far. When he spent all of our money on alcohol he had to find another way to get money since he had no job. His way was pretty _creative_. He sold his two daughters…to desperate men, on a daily basis," she shifted in her seat as Ciel's jaw dropped a little, "This really old, grubby guy tried to force me to go completely but I couldn't do it and I ran away after being heavily reprimanded by my so called father. Then Elizabeth found me. Then I wound up here. Lovely story, huh?"

Ciel stared at the small innocent-looking brunette in front of him, shocked.

"…you…"

"Sebastian was right, I suppose…we are a lot alike, hmm?" she asked her eyes suddenly filling with tears as she thought about everything she'd just shared with the young Phantomhive. Tears streamed down her face, ones that she hurriedly tried to wipe away with the heel of her hand. But all effort to stop the flow of tears was proven futile.

Ciel's eyes widened at the sight of the crying female in front of him and it was upon instinct that he pushed his chair out to run to the other side of the desk and wrap his arms around her small frame.

Danielle's crying eyes went wide and her breath came to a halt.

But she relaxed visibly when Ciel began to comb his hands absently through her hair as she cried softly, ruining his jacket (not that he cared).

Ciel was surprised in his actions it seemed like before he knew it he was holding her. It also seemed like before he knew it this unexplainable warmth spread through his body. He felt like every cell in his body was aware of her and only her.

It was a strange thing, really.

He didn't expect it, when he first met her he thought she was strange to say the least, then she became a nuisance, then a plaything, then a person, then Danielle.

He grew attached was what he realized.

He actually cared for this girl in his arms.

He really, genuinely cared about something.

Danielle's tears stopped and she wondered if Ciel knew he could let go.

By the feel of him twirling a piece of her hair between his tapered fingers she thought not and so she opened her mouth to speak then closed it because she kind of liked where she was.

That thought made her wonder how deep her feelings for her master were. She considered him to be a friend. After all wasn't a friend someone you could trust?

But did she feel anything else?

She didn't want to think about it, she didn't want to think about anything, she just wanted to stay where she was.

So she sniffled a bit in mock tears so as to not seem like she was just cuddling him for the heck of it.

Not that Ciel would have minded, apparently.

But the time came when something needed to be said because Danielle's leg was falling asleep and she was sure Ciel was getting tired of leaning over her like that. (He wasn't.)

"M-Master Phan-"

"It's Ciel,"

"But-"

"Call me Ciel,"

"I-"

"It's an order,"

She pushed herself closer to him and smiled softly at the sound of his comforting heartbeat, her sleeping legs entirely forgotten. She nodded against his shoulder, "Okay then, Ciel,"

_Thank-you._

* * *

Okay so yeah I'm sorry if that was disappointing for any of you out there.

Sorry if Ciel seemed OOC or if Danielle seemed weak.

She's not, she's very strong at least to me anyway.

Oh and also, I was thinking about writing one more chapter then cutting off this story.

Forever.

...

Naw, just making one more cliffy chapter before cutting off and making an intense sequel!

Then people will get their drama and their fluff all in a fruity combination~

Oho~

So, yup.

Tell me if you think that'd be all good and stuffs.

Oh and review to give me your opinion on the crap I've written.

*bows* I do solemnly apologize for my crappy writing!

**-EDIT-**

**Forgot to mention: I will be going to Washington with my class this Friday (at 4:30 in the morning bleh) and so I won't be able to update until next Saturday (I'll be gone a week)**

**So I'm sorry to all you wonderful peoples!**

**I'll love you all more if you send a review~!**


	19. Chapter 19

**Disclaimer: I don't own Black Butler. **

**Claimer: I do own Danielle.**

* * *

The next day Danielle avoided Ciel like the plague as she often did.

She couldn't stand to face him, not after having broken down infront of him like some weak little child! She didn't want him to think of her as weak. No, she didn't like the idea of that at all.

At the same time, she didn't enjoy ignoring Ciel. Her days were growing boring without having Ciel to annoy and taunt but she still couldn't bring herself to go talk to him. She considered talking to Ciel about it because the conflict seemed to be bothering him too, considering he hadn't made any effort to speak to her either. Which was strange because Ciel usually did that sort of thing.

On this particular day, Danielle had become fed up with this whole thing and she made up her mind to go and confront him on the issue.

Well, she hadn't really decided to do so on her own, but rather Sebastian instigated it by sending her to go clean Ciel's study-while Ciel was there-and when she really thought about it she figured it would be a good idea.

Meanwhile, Ciel sat in his study, a flurry of thoughts whirling through his mind.

Ciel was rather grateful for the lack of interaction between him and Danielle. After all he was greatly embarrassed about the way he had acted.

It was so out of character for him!

He'd never gone as far as to comfort someone so openly like that, even with Elizabeth!

For Christ's sake, when Elizabeth started bawling Ciel merely handed her a handkerchief!

Ciel tugged at his hair in complete despair as he recalled the memory of him wrapping his arms around Danielle, holding her close to him in an attempt at comfort and he groaned.

He'd acted like a total moron!

For a moment a thought crossed his mind: What did Danielle think of him now?

His heart nearly stopped as an image of her snickering at him with the words, 'lame', 'wanna-be romeo', and 'creep' falling from her mouth and Ciel smacked his head against the top of his desk and closed his visible eye.

Why had he even acted like that?

He never acted on impulse before…

Ciel clenched his eyes shut…because deep down he knew…

She wasn't just a mere pawn any longer.

Oh, no…she was becoming so, so much more.

He had come to terms with the fact that he genuinely cared for her and that terrified him.

Bonds make people weak and Ciel Phantomhive was far from weak!

His thoughts briefly shifted to his parents and he felt blood pound in his temple but he made no move to rub his head.

He remembered all the pain he went through when the bonds with his parents were severed...by death of course.

He remembered how weak he had felt but in the end he had turned out strong because he sheltered himself and vowed to never let anyone into his heart ever again.

But this girl! She'd weasled her way into his manor, into his life. She ferreted her way into his heart with her genuine smiles, soothing words, and amusing antics.

She'd weaved a bond with Ciel Phantomhive.

The first bond he's had in ages.

And he found that he'd do anything to protect this bond he had with the young girl.

And that worried him more than anything.

The knocking on the door had alerted Ciel of the world around him but, foolishly thinking it was Sebastian, he left his head pressed to the cool ebony wood of his desk and let out a muffled, "Come in!"

The door opened and Danielle awkwardly walked in, her face one of determination despite her pink cheeks.

"Master Phantomhive!"

Ciel's head snapped up from his position at the sound of her voice and he gawked at her in his surprise.

She bowed at the waist as she hurriedly exclaimed, "I'm sorry for my actions a few days ago!"

She began to rise, her face darkening in color as she shifted awkwardly, "I shouldn't have broken down like that…it was really unnecessary haha," she rubbed the back of her neck as she gave a sheepish laugh. "So, I'm sorry…let's just never speak of it again, alright? Pretend it didn't happen? Just forget it. Okay?"

Ciel stared at her, he wanted to tell her that he didn't want to pretend it never happened. Because as much as it embarrassed him, it was something he didn't want to just forget. As much as it worried him, he was beginning to realize that he was starting to think of Danielle as-dare he say it-more than a maid, or a friend.

He wanted to tell her that.

He wanted her to know that he didn't mind comforting her when she was hurting. That he'd gladly do it again.

He wanted to let her know that it wasn't stupid of her to cry. If she never cried then she was never going to truly be able to let go of her past. Trust me, he knew better than anyone.

He wanted to tell her.

...

But all that came out of his mouth was, "Alright,"

* * *

Yeah, okay that was terrible.

I'm so sorry for how much that sucked!

I know Ciel was OOC, but really people we don't know how he acts with people he really cares for! And we don't know what would go through his mind! So, this is just my interpretation of what I think he'd be like and what'd he think. I'm sorry, I tried to keep him as in character as I could but if I did the plot would die.

I mean, I was gone for like...a month and I come back and write poop.

I'm sorry!

*bows*

Please forgive me!

I didn't know what to write really and I dunno...writer's block.

Plus, I'm graduating in like...2 weeks and yeah, been busy.

But still, that doesn't excuse how terrible this chapter was!

Agh, sorry again.

Anywho, please review and tell me what you thought! (Good or Bad)

Until next time, bye-bii~!


	20. Chapter 20

**Disclaimer: I don't own Kuroshitsuji or Ciel, Sebastian, or Finny D:**

**Claimer: I own Danielle and this story plot~**

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When Danielle had said to act like nothing had ever happened she meant it.

She acted like Ciel was a complete and total stranger to her.

Not only that but she began striving to act like a real maid-yet her attempts were proven futile when she still somehow managed to be as incompetent as ever.

But one thing that did make her seem a little bit more like a maid was that she completely stopped her taunting of Ciel, she used only formal language when speaking to him and tried to be personable rather than infuriating. And on top of that, she refused to meet his eyes head on. Just like a real maid should.

It was like she actually considered Ciel Phantomhive to be her master now. Which was something the Danielle he knew would never, ever in a _million_ years _ever _do.

Ciel knew that he really should have probably be relieved by her unusual course of action.

After all he was rid of the constant nuisances that she always seemed to present whenever she was with him. He was once and for all, freed from her constant nagging and teasing.

Also he didn't have to worry about the aftereffects of the issue that occurred a few days prior because it had (apparently) been "erased" from history.

Yet, the young Phantomhive found that he was dissatisfied with the turn of events.

For reasons that he could only very scarcely comprehend he was beyond bothered with this whole situation.

He should've been happy that he didn't have someone to bicker with but he found that he missed their playful (half-serious) banter. He kind of missed the old Danielle that used to barge into his study and bother him as a way to escape work. He missed their tiring he found himself most displeased when she would dare to smile at him…because it didn't take a scientist to know that the smile she put on for him was false. And Ciel hated that utterly fake smile that she would plaster on her face when she was around him so as to look like the truly personable, sweet maid-girl that Ciel _knew_ she wasn't.

Ciel understood that it was but a mask that she used as a defense to hide her actual feelings, whatever they were. (Long ago, Ciel had come to the realization that Danielle was an impossible lock to crack, and no matter how hard he tried he just couldn't figure out what was going on inside her head and it all drove him positively _mad_. But that's beside the point.)

But what truly made that ridiculous smile the worst was that whenever she's with anyone other that him, her smile was real and genuine or at least…as close as she ever came to such a smile.

And he really hates that the completely fake, cheap smile she owns, is reserved for him and him _alone_.

A week goes by before Ciel finally reaches his breaking point and asks _him_ for help.

Yes, he's finally sought out the one and only, Sebastian Michaelis.

After rather begrudgingly explaining his situation, Ciel began to regret his decision to ask his butler for help mainly because right when he finished and demanded assistance the elder began to chuckle.

"What! Why are you laughing?"

Sebastian merely smirked, "To believe that you have become so wound up by the actions of a mere girl, it's just…quite amusing in all actuality,"

Ciel scowled, "I shouldn't have asked you for help, this was my mistake,"

Sebastian merely smirked in reply, "I'm sorry," he said, straightening up, "Now what was it you wanted help with?"

Ciel paused, averted his eyes and mumbled a reply.

Sebastian smirked a bit wider and pretended not to hear, "What was that, I'm sorry, I couldn't quite hear you,"

Ciel's eye twitched and his flush darkened a shade, "…I said, I want to resolve the issue and have things go back to how they were," he let his face fall into his hands, "I just don't know how to go about this, now help me! It's an order!"

Sebastian's eyes glimmered with a spark of interest, "My, my…you're making this a lot harder than it has to be, young master, just talk to the girl and explain how you feel, now…I'll be taking these if you're done,"

Sebastian picked up the dirtied plates from the afternoon's snack and walked from the room, inwardly smirking at the look of absolute irritation on Ciel's face.

"Talk to her?" Ciel muttered under his breath and spun in his chair so he could look out side and look down to the garden from his window. His eyes narrowed at the sight and he rubbed his temple as it began to throb dully.

There in the garden was Finny and he wasn't alone, because that would be anticlimactic and boring, oh no…Danielle was by his side as always.

She was helping him cut the roses again, Ciel noted, well…she just held the basket for Finny to throw the stems in while he did the actual trimming.

The scene shouldn't have bothered him, they were just working together to make a boring task, less boring.

That was all.

Ciel knew this.

He understood the situation.

But now, knowing this…why was the sight making his blood boil.

Ciel turned away from the window and let himself close his eye and think.

What was this feeling?

Jealousy?

No, that couldn't be it, for what reason did he have to be jealous?

It's not like he cared who Danielle chose to spend her time with…

It was just that…they were chatting too freely! They should have been focusing on their work! Not laughing at the way Danielle had screamed at the sight of a bee.

He wasn't jealous.

Just frustrated that his servants weren't putting their all into their work.

That was it.

He especially didn't care about the fact that Danielle was able to laugh and talk so casually with the young gardener while she she barely spoke more than two words to him.

Nope…not…at…all.

…

"AUGH!"

Ciel let his head fall to the surface of his desk.

For the first time in his life, Ciel Phantomhive was _jealous_.

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**HOLY SHIT AN UPDATE!**

**Hahaha, sorry guys~!**

**I'm such a lazy-ass~!**

**I _know_ I should be updating more often but...ahh...I'm just so lazy, like you have no idea.**

**I've had this chappie written for a month.**

**I just haven't been able to post it hahaha~**

**Sorry~!**

**Anyway, I know this chapter wasn't my best and I apologize for that (it was one of the things that was keeping me from posting) and yeah, the purpose of this chapter is mainly to show that Danielle and Ciel are growing apart because of what happened. And Ciel's having internal conflict, deep down he knows he cares for Danielle but still he's battling with his feelings. He doesn't want to admit it, I guess~**

**Eh...to be honest I'm really not sure anymore...**

**I don't really think, I just write.**

**=.=**

**I have no idea where this fic is going. Well...I did...but I got lost.**

**And I think I still have a vague idea.**

**...maybe...**

**REVIEW AND TELL ME WHAT YOU THOUGHT~! **


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